The Butcher, The Baker, The Evil Matchmaker
by Akayla's Pierced Heart
Summary: McGee meets the perfect girl. Trouble is, he isn't the only one who thinks she's perfect. rated for later. Tim/OC Now Complete
1. Chapter 1

Tim McGee squeezed his eyes shut and slowly opened them again. Staring at the computer screen was beginning to make him see dots. The raid party was in place waiting for the monster to pop. Tim checked his pack and stats to make sure his avatar would be ready for the big fight. His eyes drifted down to the conversation box.

_DraconisCura: I wish I could be there but I don't live anywhere near D.C._

Tim cocked his head to the side. What was going on in D.C. and why hadn't he heard about it?

_Ferasythe: I do. I'm so gonna be there._

Tim smiled. Ferasythe was one of the best members of his guild. He had never known her to reveal any personal data about herself. But she was always joking around and making him laugh. He had a feeling that if he ever met her, he'd like her. His head cocked to the side again but this time an idea popped into his head. He opened a private message box and connected with Ferasythe.

_Elf Lord: Hey Fera, what's going on in D.C.? I live near there._

_Ferasythe: Big gaming/electronics convention at the Novelle Hotel this Saturday. I'm going with a group of friends. Hoping to find a graphics card for my new computer. Heard there will be booths selling all the new stuff. _

Again, Tim was confused. How had he missed this? He shook his head. Must be this new case getting to him. The computer beeped bringing his eyes back to the private conversation.

_Ferasythe: You going?_

_Elf Lord: I'll try. Might be working. _

But Tim knew better. He just didn't want to sound desperate.

_Ferasythe: Would be cool to see you there. Maybe you could help me not get swindled. I know jack about computer parts. I only just bought a new computer cause my old one still ran on XP. _

Tim couldn't help but laugh. She may be an awesome gamer but she really didn't know much about hardware. She was always asking advice from him and other guild members.

_Elf Lord: Wow. Yeah, I can help you with a graphics card. If I can get to the convention how will I know you?_

_Ferasythe: Red cap. Dodgeball: Duck or Die. But I won't be there till after three. _

Tim's eyebrows came together. But before he could question her, the monster they had been waiting for had finally showed up.

Saturday afternoon Tim was slowly making his way around the convention hall of the Novelle looking everywhere for a red cap. Stopping near a booth selling cell phones, he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He fiddled with the zipper on his grey sweatshirt until he realized what he was doing and made himself stop. He checked his watch. It was twenty after three. Sweeping his eyes around the room, Tim sighed. Was she just messing with him when she asked to meet? A laugh made him turn to his left. His breath stalled. He couldn't blink.

She was walking towards him, laughing but looking away from him. She was on the edge of a group of three men and another woman. They all looked mid to late twenties. Tim's lips curled into a grin when he got a clear sight of her red cap. **Dodgeball: Duck or Die **was written across the front of the cap in bold black letters. She had chocolate colored hair spilling out of the back of the cap in a messy ponytail. She was newly tanned and he could tell it was a real tan, not that orange spray crap. That meant she liked the outdoors. Her black tank top under a dark blue sweatshirt had a picture of a twenty die set, with the words "The dice are trying to kill me," written below it. Tim held in a laugh, immediately understanding the joke. She clutched the strap of a tan messenger bag slung over her shoulder.

Her dark blue eyes looked right at him. She was still laughing about something. Tim couldn't believe how pretty she was. She wasn't model pretty, but she was a lot better looking than he would have ever dared to imagine. It probably had something to do with the fact that her online avatar was a purple-haired gnome. Tim made himself look away before she caught him staring. How was he supposed to walk up to her now? And did she have to travel with such an overprotective looking group? The dark haired woman with her gave Tim a "Ziva-type" vibe and at least two of the guys were definitely military.

Tim let the group pass him. Fera almost brushed him, she was so close. A subtle perfume scent floated up his nose. It was sweet and floral, but he couldn't identify it. He shook his head. It would not do to get all hung up on someone he barely knew. Taking a deep breath he slowly came up behind the group. They were stopped at a booth selling new gaming headsets.

"Ferasythe?" Tim hated himself as soon as he spoke. His voice came out all strangled, like a kid going through puberty. Immediately the whole group turned. The guy closest to Fera stepped forward, putting her behind himself. He was as tall as Tim and powerfully built like a westler with light brown skin and brown hair. Tim did his best to look past the guy to Fera. She smiled at him and stepped up.

"Elf Lord?" Tim heard one of the other guys snigger.

"Yeah." Tim hesitated. Big wrestler guy stepped forward again, glaring at him.

"Down Seth." Fera playfully shoved the guy back and he cracked a grin at her. "This is Elf Lord from my game." The other woman smiled at Tim. "This is Seth (she pointed at the wrestler), Mitch (tall with brown hair and glasses), Gavin (the other military looking guy who had dark hair), Gavin's wife Amelia (the woman was attractive but looked like she could kill you with one glance), and my real name is Alexia, but just Lexi."

"Um, Tim… McGee." He did a half-wave at the group. Amelia suddenly brought her cell phone up and snapped a picture of Tim. Lexi threw her a speculative look.

"Now we have a picture to give the cops if he turns out to be a psycho." She said. Lexi rolled her eyes.

"She actually has a point." Tim said. Lexi's warm smile spread across her face again and she nodded in agreement.

"Well," Amelia gave her husband an obvious nudge. "Let's let you two kids run off and play." She shot Lexi a knowing look but Lexi just cocked her head questioningly. Seth glared at Tim again and Mitch just smiled and shook his head.

"Take care of our little sister." Mitch said casually as Amelia began to drag away Gavin and Seth.

"Don't mind them." Lexi said stepping closer to him. She had to look up to make eye contact, being at least 6 inches shorter than him. "They like to think I'm completely helpless."

"Are you?" Tim asked.

"Sometimes." She chirped brightly. "But I like to think the fact I can admit that, says I need less help than they think." She and Tim both laughed.

"So you need a new graphics card?" Tim felt bad getting right to business, but he couldn't come up with any good small talk right then.

"Yes." She looked around. "I also just wanna look around if you aren't in a hurry. Is that okay?"

"You've got me all day." He said it without thinking. He was about to inwardly kick himself for sounding lame but Lexi's face lit up and she moved her arm in a victory pump. This could be going better than he thought.

They walked around looking at various gizmos. Tim couldn't help but show off his knowledge. Several times he thought his endless computer babble was annoying her. But every time he looked at her face she was actually interested and questioned him when he paused. She knew more than she thought she did, but seemed to have a low opinion of her computer skills. Someone had called this girl stupid more than once. Tim got the impression that she was very outgoing, just not very self-confident. But things were clicking between them nicely.

After making several purchases of his own and helping pick out her graphics card, they decided to get some food. Lexi had ridden in Amelia's car to the hotel. Tim offered to drive them to a nearby sandwich shop and bring her back. Lexi called Amelia to let her know what was going on, and the two of them left the hotel. On the way to the shop, Tim decided they had talked games and computers enough.

"So, what do you do when you're not causing massive damage with your cross-bow." Tim knew the guild made jokes all the time about her little gnome avatar with a cross-bow bigger than her head. Lexi laughed before she answered.

"I own and run a bakery." She seemed slightly uncomfortable in his small Porsche. At the convention he had noticed she fidgeted constantly. When she wasn't messing with the zipper on her sweatshirt, she had her thumbs hooked in her back pockets. Now in the car, she was twisting an amethyst ring around on her left index finger.

"I never would have guessed that."

"Why not?"

"I dunno… I guess I just didn't associate baker with…"

"A cross-bow toting gnome?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I don't have a hard time believing you're a cop."

"What makes you think I'm a cop?" He raised an eyebrow and grinned playfully. It was weird how comfortable he was starting to feel around her. It made him want to keep his guard up.

"Well, there's the way you constantly assess your surroundings, like you think something might happen. That says cop, or just paranoid. Then there's the way you stand."

"How do I stand?" She was incredibly observant. That unsettled him.

"Most people put their weight on one foot. You stand with your weight evened out. Only people who have had some kind of training do that. That says military or cop. And you can't be military."

"Why not?" He mocked being offended.

"Your haircut." She smiled. He nodded, she had him there. "But what really screamed "cop" was the fact that you have a badge clip on your belt." He looked down long enough to see that she was right. He never told people where he worked. He deliberated for a few seconds.

"I'm _kind of _a cop."

"Kind of? Okay... I'm leaving that alone."

"Sorry." He felt like an ass.

"It's cool. I get the whole "we just met" thing. At least now I can tell Amelia you're not a psycho. They make you guys do psych evaluations." He did not miss the fact that she made the conversation about him… Again.

"Just so you know, I _have _passed all mine." By now he was parking.

"Suuuure." She joked.

He planned on being a gentleman and getting the shop door open for her but she beat him to it. He let her ahead of him in line. Before he was even finished ordering she had already paid for her stuff. She was used to being independent.

"I would have gotten that for you." He said as they sat down in a booth.

"Gotten what?" She stopped unwrapping her sandwich and looked at him like she had done something wrong.

"Your food. I could've paid."

"Oh, sorry. Well, you can next time." Her voice was playful but her eyes were serious. Damn this was confusing. He wanted to ask if she _was_ serious but he just started eating in silence. Halfway through her sandwich she stopped and giggled. She set her sandwich down and giggled louder. "Sorry, haha…" She said to him. "My phone, haha. Vibrate." She dug her phone out of her back pocket and looked at it. She laughed again and replied to the text.

"Are you in trouble?" Tim asked.

"Nah, Amelia just wants to know if I'm ready to go home yet. She has to be somewhere later. We are all helping plan another friend's wedding. "

"Do you have someone who can install that graphics card for you?"

"I hadn't even thought of that." She frowned. "I can get Mitch to do it later." She shrugged.

"I don't wanna overstep any bounds, but I could do it for you tonight. I could take you home. If you're comfortable with that…"

"If you don't mind, that'd be great." Her face could've lit up a room. She sent Amelia another text and tucked her phone in her back pocket.

"So if it tickles you so badly, why do you keep it in your back pocket?" He threw the question out. Flirting was not his forte.

"Any girl who tells you she doesn't like to be tickled on the ass is lying." He fought to not choke on the bite of sandwich in his mouth. She smiled and started in on her own sandwich again.

They finished eating quickly after that. Back in the car, Tim suggested going back to the convention. Lexi agreed. Happy to have an excuse to spend more time with her, Tim felt the earlier tension fizzle away. Back at the convention, Tim suddenly ran out of small talk again. They circled the entire hall before Lexi finally turned on him.

"Did I scare you or something?" She almost demanded.

"Huh?"

"You've hardly said a word since I said I like being tickled." He realized she was right. He was about to apologize but she cut him off. "Sorry. The filter between my mind and my mouth is kinda broken. So I have a bad habit of blurting exactly what I think."

"That's okay. I like a girl who doesn't hold back. It's refreshing."

"Most people find it annoying."

"Most people can't handle hearing the truth."

"That is so true. You know the saying 'if you can't say something nice, don't say anything?' I don't agree with that. I say, if you can't be honest, don't speak."

"I like that better too."

"Sometimes it's hard to live with no inner monologue though. It gets me in trouble."

They continued wandering around the convention hall just talking. He gave her the basic short story of his family, mostly only talking about Sarah and his grandmother. Lexi started opening up more about herself. She was twenty-eight and single for over a year. Her last relationship ended without any drama after four months.

"We just wanted different things." She had explained, leaving something to be desired. Tim didn't go into to detail about his past relationships, and she didn't ask.

He found out they had a lot in common as far as hobbies. She loved playing paintball and running Pathfinder games on weekends. She talked about her friends and some of the crazy things they had done in college. She left college with a BA in Performance Theatre. She did community theatre for a year. It didn't exactly pay the bills. So she went on to culinary school. She mentioned her dad was a Marine but then slid away from the subject. Tim got the impression her dad was no longer among the living and didn't bring it up again. After about two hours of him not talking about work and her not talking about family, they both decided to head over to her place.

Her place turned out to be a two-bedroom apartment above her bakery. Tim pulled up in front of the brick building and realized he had been here before. It was barely a mile from the Navy yard.

"You own _Crafted Confections_?"

"Yup. I opened it four years ago. I always wanted to have a small café or a bakery. I think it started when my dad bought me an easy bake oven. But I love my job. It involves my two favorite things: art and cake," They went through a side door and up a set of stairs. There were two doors on the second floor. Lexi turned to the one on the right and knocked. Tim was confused. Why would she knock on her own door? The door opened and Mitch popped his head out.

"You wanted to know when I got home. I'm home." Lexi said while waving at him. Mitch took a second to glance at Tim. Then he just nodded at Lexi and shut the door. Lexi turned and smiled. "I own this whole building. Mitch does the business part of the store and I just bake and decorate. I don't have a head for numbers." She unlocked the other door and let him in.

"And he seems kinda protective." Tim looked around the apartment. She was neat, but not as obsessively neat as himself. Most of the décor was dark brown and blue with the exception of a red bean bag on the floor.

"He has three sisters, it's habit." She tossed her keys on the wooden coffee table and pulled off her cap. Her hair fell just above her shoulders. Crossing the room to the small kitchen area, she set her bag on the counter that separated the kitchen from the living room. "Well, here it is." Adjacent to the T.V. stand was a very old wooden desk with a new Dell desktop. It wasn't anything fancy but he could tell she had spent some good money on it.

She handed him the bag with her new computer toys and a small screwdriver set. He made himself comfortable in her leather desk chair and went to work. He could hear her rummaging in the kitchen behind him.

"Do you want some coffee or something? I also have some red wine."

"Uh, coffee would be nice." He called over his shoulder. She set up the coffee maker then joined him back in the living room. She sat on the couch on the side closest to him. He could feel her watching him. After several nerve wracking minutes the coffee maker finally beeped and she got up. He wasn't gonna let her wait on him like a maid. "I got it." He jumped up out of the chair and crossed in front of her. She had tied her hair up into a messy bun. For a second she looked surprised, then she just smiled and followed him.

"Cups are right above the microwave." He opened the cabinet and pulled out two cups. He filled both of them and took one back to the desk. Back in the chair he was determined not to look over his shoulder at her. He felt distracted as hell being in her apartment. He nearly jumped when he suddenly heard music. He spun around and saw Lexi messing with a small stereo on the counter. She looked at him for a second and stopped moving. "Sorry, is this bothering you?" She had a deer-in-headlights look on her face.

"No." He said quickly.

"Do you mind Coldplay?" She held up a CD.

"Not at all." She smiled and he spun the chair back around. She set the volume relatively low and went back to the couch. She fell silent again and the lack of conversation started to make Tim worry he was being rude. He was just about done installing everything when he heard Lexi giggle. He smirked when he heard her yoda ring tone.

"Yeah?" She answered the phone. "Oh yeah, I'll be there… Nah, I finished that cake earlier today. It's going out in the morning so I don't have to be in all day… I have an extra mask and jacket. The jacket has my name on it but it's camo… No I don't care, she can borrow them… Alright bright and early O 700... See ya."

"Work?" He asked when she hung up.

"Yeah. I do most of the special orders. I'm kinda weird about perfection so I don't really trust anyone with the special cakes, especially wedding cakes."

"You must have been the one who did the cake I bought here a few months ago. I requested a cake that looked like a murder scene. I have a goth friend and it was her birthday."

"I remember that!" She sounded excited. "That was actually really fun to decorate. Did she like it?"

"Oh yeah, she loved it." Tim closed up the computer tower and powered it up. "Okay, let's see if I did this right." He turned on the monitor. Then went rigid when he felt her stand right next to him and lean down. Forcing himself to relax, he reached for the mouse. The computer booted up quickly, but to Tim it took forever. She seemed to sense his discomfort and leaned away slightly. "Okay, I'm just gonna open up the game and test out the picture quality." He clicked the icon. The log in screen came up and before he could move to let her enter her email address and password to log in she blurted it out.

"Email is Ferasythe4662 at c-net dot com." He quickly typed it in. "Password is dark side cookies, one word." He slowly turned his head towards her and arched his eyebrows. "What?"

"Your password is _dark side cookies_?"

"What, you're not gonna hack my account are you?"

"Well, I could do that without your password." He said while typing. "I'm just wondering how you came up with that."

"It's a theatre joke. 'I've crossed over to the dark side. They lured me with cookies.' We used to say that when someone messed up a line or something."

"Ah." He turned his attention back to the computer. She was now logged in and the game was loading. He clicked on her avatar and entered the game world. He moved the avatar around, checking the refresh rate and picture. "This all looks good." He turned back to her. "You're all set from here."

"Thanks." She bent down and for a second he thought she was going to hug him. He would have welcomed it, but half way there she twisted and clicked the keyboard to log out. Damn!

"Um, I need to use the bathroom." He back the chair away from her and stood.

"Oh sure, just go through either bedroom." He crossed the room and went through the door that was open. He walked into a simple bedroom all done in dark blue with dark wood furniture. The bathroom was bigger than he expected. It had a standing shower and a large bathtub that looked like four people could fit in it. Another door led to the second bedroom. He peeked in long enough to see several boxes, two shelves full of books, a keyboard, and an old futon. He did his business and came back out through Lexi's room. When he came back into the living room, Lexi was sitting at the desk yawning.

"Sleepy?" He asked. Her body jerked as she turned to face him.

"Yeah, sorry, I was up early. I probly need to crash soon." She rubbed the back of her neck. "We've got a paintball war scheduled tomorrow." Her comments about a "mask and extra camo jacket" made sense now. A terrible thought came over him. Was she trying to get rid of him? Had she just used him to get her computer set up? It was all Tim could do to hold back the scowl he felt coming.

"Well I'll just go then." He did his best to be polite. The deer-in-headlights look came over her face again. Before he could change his mind he was already moving for the door.

"Okay, well…" She seemed at a loss. He abruptly turned and saw that she had followed him to the door.

"I'll see you online." This came out less polite. Her mouth fell open but he turned and walked out the door.

Once outside he cussed out loud at his naivety. How could he think a woman like that would waste time on him…

"Tim!" He dropped his keys at the sound of Lexi shouting his name. He had made it to his car and was about to unlock it. He cussed again and bent to grab his keys. When he stood back up she was standing just a few feet from him. He just looked at her warily. "Did I say something wrong?" She shifted nervously and hooked her thumbs in her back pockets.

"Of course not. I just didn't want to overstay my welcome." He knew he sounded rude. Hurt streaked across her face, then something that looked like regret. She took a step towards him.

"I was just… I mean, I thought… I was actually hoping you would ask me out… Or at least ask for my number…" Her eyes slid away from him. Tim immediately felt stupid. "But if you're just not interested."

"No!" He stepped back up onto the sidewalk so he was right in front of her. She jumped back a step at his outburst. "I _am_ interested. I thought _you_ weren't." Her eyes met his again. "I thought you just wanted me to fix your computer."

"Tim I told you I could get Mitch to do it. I was hoping you were just using this as an excuse to come over." She finally relaxed. "And for the record, I don't invite guys I just met to my place unless I really like them."

"For the record, I _was_ just using it as an excuse to come over." They both laughed nervously. "Would you like to go out with me sometime?"

"Yeah." Tim pulled out his cell phone and handed it to her. She laughed and gave him her phone. When he touched the screen the picture he saw made him pause before putting his number in the phone. There was Lexi, maybe a little younger than now. She was hugging an older man wearing a Marine dress uniform. The resemblance between them told Tim this was her father. They exchanged phones back and Tim just stood there for a second, not sure what to do.

"Well," she finally broke the silence. "I guess I'll hear from you later."

"I shouldn't be busy tomorrow afternoon. I'll call you then." He leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her temple. When he pulled back, she was beaming again. As he drove away she waved at him. All in all, he would call this a pretty good day.

Sunday. It was four in the afternoon. Tim had finally finished all the paperwork that he had planned on doing yesterday. The smile on his face had earned him several suspicious glances from other agents passing his desk. In the back of his mind he knew he probably looked weird, smiling while doing paperwork. But the prospect of a phone call from Lexi was all he really cared about. He had made himself refrain from calling her about a dozen times. He didn't want her to think he was clingy. Thank God Tony hadn't shown up. For the fiftieth time he picked up his cell and checked for any missed calls. There were none. He was about to set the phone back down when a text popped up.

**Message from Alexia Jansen : Hey Tim. Are you busy? **

**No, just finished up. What are you up to?**

**At a dress fitting. Remember I'm helping plan a wedding? Well, I'm also in it. Luckily the bride let me and Amelia pick the bridesmaid dresses. So this is only gonna be slightly humiliating.**

**Don't like to dress up?**

**I used to do theatre. I love dressing up. But I mean, the actual wedding will only be slightly humiliating.**

**Why?**

**Stacy, the bride, is making all the unmarried girls wear ribbons around their wrists. Marking them as available for the unmarried guys at the wedding.**

**How diabolical. **

**YES I KNOW! She's evil! **

**When is the wedding? **

**One week from today. She's kinda doing everything last minute. Her husband-to-be is due to ship out in a month.**

**Navy?**

**Yeah. But don't hold it against him. He's cool… ish.**

**LOL. Hey, if you want to dress up again tonight, I'd like to take you out to dinner.**

**Love to. What time?**

**How's 7:30?**

**Perfect. I'm being yelled at. Bridezilla. Talk more later. ****J**

**Have fun. **Tim laughed to himself and put the phone in his pocket. Still smiling like an idiot, he picked up his stuff and left the office.

By 7:25 he had showered, shaved, and changed into his dark blue pinstripe suit and a black button shirt. He thought about wearing a tie but discarded the idea. This was dinner, not a business meeting. He cleared his throat and popped his neck before knocking on Lexi's door. Just as the door opened he remembered something.

"Dammit." He swore quietly.

"Dammit? Do I look that bad?" Tim froze. She was wearing a simple black halter dress that hit her knees. The clingy material showed off her hour glass shape. The only jewelry she wore was her amethyst ring and a silver chain with a tiny dolphin pendant. Her hair was down but swept out of her face. "Seriously, am I hideous?"

"Huh uh. No, absolutely not." He shook his head. "I just remembered I was gonna bring you flowers…"

"Oh, well it's a good thing you didn't." She turned and grabbed her coat and a small black purse. "That would have set off my allergies. And possibly sent my spinning into an asthma attack." She turned back to him. "Ready?"

"Yeah." He waited for her to lock her door. Then he made sure to head down the stairs in front of her so he could hold the door for her. When they got to the car, he unlocked her door first before getting in.

"I've never been out with such a gentleman." Her voice was light, but he knew she was serious. "So where are we going?"

"Have you been to Alfonzo's Steak House?"

"Nope. Gourmet food for me usually has a drive through." Tim chuckled.

"Well, I'm gonna spoil you tonight then." He glanced at her. Then did a double take. She was sitting relaxed with her hands in her lap. She wasn't fidgeting or squirming like she had done in the car yesterday. She just sat there, smiling at him.

"Can I get something out of the way?" She rushed it out.

"Sure." He tensed.

"I know I dodge around some topics. One being my family…"

"You don't have to explain anything you don't want to." He tried to reassure her.

"It's not that I don't want to. I just can't stand pity. So I don't bring it up a lot." She paused. "Short version, my mother left when I was five. Haven't heard from her since." She paused again, longer this time. "My dad was killed in Afghanistan when I was nineteen."

"I know you said you hate pity, but I really am sorry." They rode in silence for almost ten minutes before it became too much for Tim. He felt like he owed her for confiding in him. "Do you mind if I get something out of the way?"

"Not at all." Her voice was light again.

"I haven't exactly had the best dating experiences lately." She waited for him to explain. "One girl took my credit card and nearly ruined me. Another dated me and then trashed me all over My Space when I broke it off. She was just too obsessive. And the last one actually tried to kill me." He looked at her long enough to see her staring wide-eyed.

"That would make for some very understandable trust issues." She nodded. He was surprised she didn't ask about his job. It was the _other_ subject he had been dodging. But she just contended to talk about her latest Pathfinder game.

When they got to the restaurant she seemed impressed by the fact that there was a valet. Tim felt good about racking up points with her. She held back and purposely let him open the door for her. At the table he waited for her to sit down first. Then let her order first.

"You _are_ spoiling me." She laughed. "You better be careful. I could get used to this."

"I'm hoping." He smiled.

The rest of dinner flew by. Tim couldn't remember the last time he felt so comfortable just talking to someone. Only Abby made him this relaxed, but she was his best friend. Tim talked about his coworkers without actually revealing exactly what he did. And again, she didn't ask. He talked about working for a Marine and she asked if he had the "stare?"

"It was a joke between me and my dad. I used to call it the steely-Marine-glare-you-down stare."

"Oh, yeah, he definitely has that." Tim laughed.

She got excited when he told her about his book. She had read _Deep Six_ and was waiting for the sequel. Her phone buzzed inside her purse as they were finishing dinner and scanning the dessert menu. At first she ignored it, but it buzzed again two more times.

"I don't mind if you get that." Tim had noticed she had a thing about not being rude. She would always ask if things were "okay" with him. She smiled and pulled her phone out. As she read the texts her face went from surprised to confused. When a deep frown crossed her face, Tim got worried. Her eyes narrowed and she punched in a reply and put her phone down on the table. She plastered a smile on her face when she finally looked back up at him. "Everything okay?" He tried not to sound as worried as he felt.

"Yeah, just people being stupid." She picked up the menu. "Well, one person." She rolled her eyes. They decided to share a piece of chocolate cake. Just before the cake got there her phone buzzed again. Tim's eyes shot to her phone. "I'm so sorry." She said to him before picking up the phone and checking the message. "Ugh." She growled. "I'm ignoring this." She let the phone drop onto the booth seat. "I'll be right back… I need to… Go." He smiled up at her and nodded.

As soon as she left Tim felt temptation flood through him. He knew the restrooms were on the other side of the restaurant. It would only take a second to skim over her messages. She never needed to know… Just as he was about to give in, something dawned on him.

Tim shook his head. She asked permission for every little thing. She constantly apologized. She went out of her way to accommodate him without thinking of herself. She had an extremely low opinion of herself. All that topped with the constant fidgeting told him more than he needed to know. Some guy, or more than one, had abused her. Maybe not physically, but it was there. And now he had gone and almost invaded her privacy on their first date. When she finally got back to the table, Tim almost confessed everything. But the thought of her storming out on him kept him from it. Dessert came and she was halfway through her share of the cake when she noticed him not eating.

"Not hungry?" Her question made his head pop up. Looking into her incredibly innocent eyes made him hate himself more.

"Uh, I guess I ate more than I could handle."

"I'm sorry." He sighed inwardly. There she went again, apologizing for something that could not have possibly been _her _fault. "Do you want me to hurry?"

"No." He smiled. "Take your time. I'm in no hurry to part ways." She smiled but still ate a little faster.

Tim was still deep in thought when he slid into the driver's seat of his car. He desperate wanted to know what had upset her in those texts. But asking her was out of the question. The night had gone more perfectly than he could've planned. Why mess that up?

"Something's bothering you." She accused him as soon as he hit the first red light. It was a good thing he was stopped. Her sudden question made him jerk in his seat. "Sorry…" She muttered. That was it. He'd had enough.

"Why do you do that?" He looked her in the eyes. The deer-in-headlights look came back and she blushed. He watched her right hand slowly grab the ring on her left hand and twist it. As soon as the light turned green he headed in a different direction than he originally planned. When the car finally stopped, they were in a parking lot near the water front. Tim cut the engine and turned in his seat to face her. He reached for her left hand and held it.

"Look at me." He made his voice as gentle as possible. Her eyes came up and she shifted to face him. He sighed and rubbed his thumb across her hand. "I can tell you've been hurt." Her eyes shifted for a second then came back to him. "I don't wanna hurt you Lexi. Frankly I don't see how anyone could. You are the sweetest and most sincere person I've met in a very long time." Her blush deepened. "I know your friends think you're naïve. But I think you are just _unabashedly_ honest. And despite what you may think, you've done nothing wrong. So you don't have to apologize for anything… Ever."

She stared at him wide-eyed. No one but Amelia ever called her out on her constant apologizing. But she knew he wasn't being cruel. She opened her mouth then shut it. What could she possibly say?

"I…" She squirmed in her seat.

"I told you earlier. You don't have to explain anything you don't want to." She relaxed and smiled.

They sat in the car and talked for another hour before Tim caught her yawning. He kept hold of her hand the entire drive back to her apartment. When he found himself back at her front door, she hesitated before puling out her keys.

"Are you a kiss on the first date person?" She asked.

"I usually leave that up to the girl." It was the truth. "Are you?"

"Only if I want to encourage a second date."

"I'll keep that in mind for the next five seconds." She smirked and unlocked the door. He stood there not really knowing what to do. She took a step inside the apartment before turning to him.

"Well, goodnight." She smiled and shut the door. His jaw dropped.

"Huh…" He blinked several times. Okay, he deserved that. He was turning to head back down the stairs when he heard laughing. Lexi's door opened and she was still shaking from the laughter. She stepped forward and put her hands on his cheeks. He let her pull him down into the kiss. For a second he saw stars. She pulled away and without a word slipped back into her apartment. Yeah, he should have seen that coming.

The couple days went by slowly but Tim didn't mind. He hadn't seen Lexi because they were both working constantly. But they would text each other throughout the day and night. Apparently spring was the busy time around the bakery. Lexi called it "wedding season." She had four wedding cakes on top of her regular orders, and helping plan Stacy's wedding, plus doing Stacy's cake (which Lexi had called a monster) and all the desserts for the wedding.

Tim learned on Wednesday not to call Lexi while she was decorating. Being the perfectionist that she was, she didn't handle distractions very well. He could relate. He had called late that morning to see if Lexi could meet him for lunch. Amelia had answered her phone. He knew Amelia sometimes worked the front counter of the bakery.

"Lexi's phone." Tim recognized the voice.

"Uh, this is Tim. Is Lexi busy?"

"Yeah. She gives me her phone when she's working. She's piping a three tier." Tim had no idea what that meant.

"Oookay. I was just trying to see if she wanted to have lunch today?" Tim regretted not checking to see if he was alone. Tony and Ziva immediately flew to his desk. So far Abby was the only one he had confided in about Lexi. Ziva suspected, but didn't ask. The lack of privacy in this place was just sad. Tim glared up at Tony.

"Let me ask." He could hear Amelia walking. "But if I get a spatula thrown at me, it's your ass." A door opened and he could hear Coldplay.

"McGoo has a McGirl he hasn't told us about." Tony crossed his arms.

"Shut up." Tim wanted to throw something.

"Excuse me?" Amelia's voice sounded irritated.

"No, no, no, not you!" Tim jumped out of his seat and moved towards the elevator. Amelia laughed.

"Darling!" Tim heard Amelia call out over the noise of the kitchen.

"What!" Saying Lexi sounded annoyed was an understatement. Her yell made him jump slightly.

"Timmy wants to now if you're free for lunchy-poo." Tim had a feeling Amelia was the only one who could get away with baby-talking Lexi when she was busy.

"Oh." Tim smiled at Lexi's voice change. "Hang on." When he heard her voice again he could tell he had been put on speakerphone. "Hi, Tim. I'm really sorry but I'm kinda in the middle of something."

"That's okay. I just thought I could bring some sandwiches by, or something." Tim looked over his shoulder to see both Tony and Ziva staring to him just out of earshot.

"Oh I would love that, but I really don't know if I'm even gonna _get _a lunch break. I'd have to eat then get right back to work. I don't think it'd even be worth the trip over here."

"Trust me, you're worth the trip."

"That is soooo cute." Amelia squealed in the back round. Tim heard a smacking sound. "Hey! My arm!"

"Serves you right." Lexi said. "Sorry, Tim. If you really wanna come by I'd love that. You can come back into the kitchen."

"Okay, I'll see you in about an hour." Tim turned around in time to see that Tony had been attempting to sneak up on him. "Sneak attack, epic fail dude." Tony's eyes narrowed. Tim went back to his desk grinning.

"So how did you meet?" Ziva asked when Tim sat down.

"She owns _Crafted Confections._" No need to tell them too much.

"I love that place." Ziva perked up in her chair. "They make the best chocolate éclairs." She stood up and walked over to Tim's desk. He tried to ignore her but she leaned over his paperwork. Tony was by her side in a second. "So, you are meeting for lunch? Is she coming here?"

"No. She's busy decorating wedding cakes."

"You're dating someone who makes wedding cakes? So she has weddings on her mind all day? Are you insane?" Tony reached over to head-slap Tim but he dodged it. He was getting good at that.

"She's also helping to plan a friend's wedding." Tim smirked at Tony. "And weddings don't terrify me like they do _some_ people." He grinned and cocked his head to the side. Tony just glared for a second and walked away.

"So her name is Lexi?" Ziva was still interested.

"Yeah, short for Alexia." Tim spoke without even thinking.

"And her last name?" Tim paused and looked at Ziva.

"Why do you wanna know?"

"Just curious." Ziva shrugged.

"You know for a trained assassin, you suck at lying." Ziva feigned shock. "Tell me why you wanna know."

"I just think it would do good to maybe…" She paused as if trying to think of the right words. "It's just, after the last one… Don't you think it would be a good idea to maybe run a back round check on her?"

"Last _one_, try last three." Tony quipped from his desk. Tim thought back to the moment he almost checked Lexi's phone. Something inside him snapped.

"Look, I just met this girl and I really like her. Right now, that's all I care about."

"Are you trying to convince me, or yourself?" Ziva dropped the subject after that. But Tim couldn't get her comment out of his head. His fingers twitched over his keyboard. But he went back to his paperwork. If he was going to try to trust her, he better stop giving her reasons to not trust him.

When Tim stepped into the front lobby of the bakery he spotted Amelia sitting behind the counter typing away on a laptop. She looked up when the tiny bell above the door jingled, announcing his arrival. Her grin set him on edge for a split second. She looked like someone who was plotting something.

"Hi." She chirped.

"Hi." He replied cautiously. Amelia's eyes dropped to the sandwich bag in his hand.

"I hope you made sure to hold off on tomatoes and onions. She hates them."

"It's crab salad." Tim had remembered that she had ordered crab salad on wheat the first time they ate together.

"Good choice." She jumped down from the stool she had been perched on. "Come back this way." Tim made his way around the counter quickly. They passed what looked like a storage area and an office before reaching a swinging door that had a port-hole window. Tim could already hear music playing. Amelia opened the door halfway and poked her head in. "Sweetie, your sweetie is here."

"Kay!" He heard Lexi shout back.

"Okay, is safe." Amelia said heading back towards the front.

"I hope so." Tim muttered before pushing the door open and stepping through.

Like her apartment, the kitchen was neatly kept. A large steel table sat in the middle of the kitchen. There were four other people all working on various projects. Each of them looked up long enough to size him up, then went back to work. Everyone was dressed in casual street clothes and long white aprons. The entire back wall was lined with ovens. To his left was a walk in freezer and walk in fridge. To the right was a set a double doors that he suspected led out to the alley. There was another table set up in a corner near the double doors. A cake, easily four feet tall, took up almost the whole table. Lexi was circling the cake holding an icing bag. She glanced at him.

"I'm almost done piping, just one sec." So that's what "piping" meant… It looked meticulous. No wonder she didn't like being interrupted. His head fell slightly to the side while he watched her. She looked so adorable with her face all scrunched up in concentration. Finally, she set the bag down and looked at him. "What?"

"Nothing, that just looks… Difficult."

"Tedious is more like it." She smiled. "We can eat out in the front lobby." She untied the long white apron she was wearing and hung it up. Tim led the way back out to the lobby and they sat down at one of the small tables by a window. Amelia stopped typing long enough to send him an evil looking grin. Lexi, with her back to Amelia, missed it. "Thanks for lunch." Lexi brought his attention back to her. She unwrapped her sandwich and smiled when she saw what it was. "My favorite. How'd you know?"

"I have skills." He grinned and glanced back at Amelia in time to see her roll her eyes. Tim's gaze fell back to Lexi. "I forgot drinks…" He slapped his own forehead.

"It's cool." She stood and went behind the counter. There were three fridges with glass doors filled with drinks. Lexi grabbed a bottle of sweet tea. "What do you like?"

"Uh, just water." Tim started to pull out his wallet but she waved him off.

"Don't worry. You got food, I get drinks." She smiled and rejoined him. He could see how hungry she was. After digging into the sandwich she got up and grabbed them each a piece of cake that had been on display. Tim had never had orange velvet, but it was good.

Amelia spent the whole time sending him glances and smirks. He couldn't tell if she liked him or wanted to beat him up. It was very nerve wracking. Lexi on the other hand seemed completely at ease. She didn't fidget, or squirm, or apologized once while they ate. She didn't rush through the meal either. He could tell she was stalling to spend more time with him. It wasn't until Tim's phone rang that he even thought about work.

"McGee." He answered without even looking at the number.

"Get your butt back here. Abby needs you." Tony's voice sounded annoyed. That told Tim that Gibbs had probably made Tony call him.

"On my way." He looked up at Lexi. "Sorry, work."

"Now who's apologizing." She crossed her arms and smiled playfully. He couldn't help but laugh.

"Hey, do you have any of those chocolate éclairs? One of my coworkers really likes them."

"Yeah, I made a bunch this morning." She got up and went back into the kitchen. As soon as she left Amelia turned to him.

"She loves Shakespeare quotes, cuddling, and comedies. Hates mushy chick flicks, is allergic to flowers and cats, but still loves animals. Take her on fun dates. She likes being outdoors and her favorite things to do other than gaming are hiking and mountain biking." She rushed it out so fast Tim almost didn't catch all of it. "Oh, and kissing her neck is the fastest way to…" The kitchen door swung open. Lexi came out carrying two white cardboard boxes.

Fastest way to what?

"Here, I figure they'll go fast." Lexi held out the boxes. Again, Tim reached for his wallet. "Don't worry about." Lexi shook her head.

"Are you sure?" Tim reached for the boxes.

"Kiss me and we'll call it even." That sounded like a plan!

Twenty minutes later both Ziva and Abby were surprised when they each found a box full of éclairs on their desks.


	2. Chapter 2

It was 11p.m. Friday night. Tim was beat. He wanted nothing more than to crawl into his bed and pass out. He had just exited the Navy yard when his phone rang to life. He almost didn't answer it. The possibility that it was Tony or Gibbs calling him back in made him want to scream. This latest case had taken a toll on everyone. His only escape had been the brief text chats he had snuck with Lexi. By now even Gibbs and Ducky knew Tim was seeing someone. Though only Ducky had actually commented on it. Tim gave in and brought the phone to his ear.

"McGee." This had better be good.

"Tim." It was Lexi. Suddenly crawling into bed and passing out didn't seem so important.

"Hi. How are you?" Something about the way she had said his name didn't feel right.

"I'm okay." Translation, I feel like shit. Tim's eyes narrowed.

"Bad day?" It couldn't possibly add up to his bad day, but he wasn't about to say that out loud.

"Just… Long." She paused. "How bout you?" He could tell she was forcing herself to sound better than she felt.

"Not bad." He hesitated. Should he head over to her place? "Want to talk about it?"

"Are you busy?" She sounded just as tired as him. But sad too…

"No, I'm just leaving work."

"Wow, just now? I guess being kind of a cop makes for wacky hours." She tried to make herself laugh.

"I'm just glad I don't have a dozen four feet tall cakes to make." This made her laugh for real.

"How bout we trade jobs next week." He smiled at he more cheerful tone.

"I bet you could handle my boss better than most of the people here."

"Aw, did somebody get a head-slap today?" She teased.

"Only once."

"Hey, that's a _good_ day."

"Are you sure you're okay?" She didn't answer. "Want me to come over?"

"You don't have to, you should go home and get some sleep."

"I can sleep tomorrow. What about you? Shouldn't you get to sleep?"

"I've been trying to. I need to be up tomorrow and get started on all of Stacy's wedding stuff. I have the whole day set aside just to get just her cakes and desserts done so they are all fresh. The wedding starts at ten in the morning."

"So no paintball?" Tim knew her group went out to Archland Park for paintball on Sunday mornings. It was a heavily wooded area that didn't get much traffic. It was also home to Lexi's favorite bike trails.

"Actually we are all sacrificing paintball that day. The only one who complained was Seth." Lexi spat Seth's name out. Tim remembered Seth was the big wrestler who had loomed over Lexi the first time they met. Something told him Seth may have played a part in Lexi's bad day. "Are you still there?" Tim didn't realize he had stopped talking.

"Yeah, I'm here. Can you let me in?"

"Huh?" A knock on her front door made Lexi jump off her couch. "That's you?"

"Yeah." He sounded sheepish. Tim heard the dead bolt on the door turn and clicked off his phone. When the door opened Lexi was still holding her phone. She stepped aside to let him in and smiled. It was then that he noticed that she had been sitting in the dark. The only light came from her small desk lamp. "I thought we could both use some company tonight." Tim smiled back at her. She let her phone drop onto her desk chair and wrapped her arms around Tim's waist. He immediately answered the hug.

"I wanted to ask you over but I didn't want you to think I needed a babysitter. I'm usually not this clingy."

"I don't think you're being clingy at all." He was still holding her and leading her to the couch while kicking off his shoes. He pulled her down to lay beside him. As soon as they both settled, Tim started stroking a hand through her hair. "I'm glad to be here. And like I said, we both needed company."

She looked up at him and smiled. He bent his head down to kiss her but the position was awkward. She pushed herself up and connected the kiss. Her lips were warm and soft. They stayed that way for several minutes, just trading light kisses. Tim couldn't remember anything feeling this good before. His eyes opened when he felt her tongue trail across his bottom lip. She was looking back at him intently. She took his bottom lips into her mouth and sucked gently. Tim's eyes fluttered and one hand found it's way under her shirt. He gently caressed her back finding a ticklish spot. Her face came away from his and she gasped. Tim teased and tickled her back with his fingertips. Lexi's back arched making her thigh brush against Tim's groin. He groaned and his body went rigid.

Lexi used the distraction to shift so she was slightly above him. Her hair tickled his cheeks when she bent to kiss him again. This time she wasn't soft about it. Her thigh was still firmly planted between his legs. He rubbed against her and deepened the kiss. She moaned into his mouth sending electric currents shooting all the way down his body. For some insane reason he heard Amelia's voice in his head.

"Kissing her on the neck is the fastest way to…"

Tim broke the kiss and brought his lips to the side of her neck. He kissed, licked, and suckled her neck feverishly.

"Ahhh. Mmhhh. Aahh." She purred into his ear. Her body shuddered and she rubbed herself against him harder. 'Fastest way to _turn her on_.' He thought to himself. He continued to suck and gently nip her neck. She pulled away suddenly and sat up looking at him wild-eyed.

"Please…" She was completely breathless. "No…"

No? Wait, what? No what? This was going so well. What had he done wrong?

"No hickies. I have to wear a strapless dress Sunday."

Ohhhh. That made sense. Relieved that _hickies_ had been her only problem he smiled and nodded.

She lowered herself back down. Their tongues met quickly. Tim still had one hand up her shirt rubbing the small of her back and one hand on the back of her neck. Both her hands were on either side of his head, holding her up. Kissing her felt so damn good but he could feel her getting tired. She sank on top of him after several minutes of aggressive kissing. He wrapped both arms around her.

"I know you're tired. Just sleep." He said into her ear before kissing her temple.

"Do you need to go?" She mumbled.

"Do you want me to?"

"Not unless you want to." Tim answered her by pulling the blue throw blanket off the back of the couch and covering them with it. "You know…" She brought her head up. "This is the best ending to a crappy day I've ever had."

"What made it so crappy?" Tim asked before he could stop himself.

"Just someone being stupid." She scowled.

"The same stupid someone who was texting you when we had dinner?" She nodded and laid her head down in the crook of his arm. Tim had a pretty good idea who this stupid someone was. "Should I have a talk with him?" Tim was serious.

"Nah, he's just being an overprotective pest. Like I told you before, they like to think I'm helpless. But they have kind of a good reason to think so." Why was she defending him?

"Doesn't give anyone the right to harass you."

"Don't worry about it. I told him off."

"Good for you." Tim waited for her to respond, but she just fell silent. After several minutes, he felt Lexi's body slacken as she drifted off. It wasn't long before the sound of her deep breathing soothed Tim to sleep.

"Ouch!" Tim sat bolt upright reaching for his gun. Where was his gun? He looked around. Rolling his eyes, he realized he was still on Lexi's couch. His gun was in his glove compartment next to his badge. He twisted around and saw Lexi standing in the kitchen sucking on her right middle finger, pouting. She turned to him and popped her finger out of her mouth. "I burned myself." She explained. "Sorry, did I wake you?"

"It's okay. What time is it?" She glanced at the clock on the kitchen wall.

"Little after seven. Want some breakfast? I made biscuits and gravy."

"Oooh." Tim sprang up.

"I made coffee too." She turned back to the stove. Tim came up behind her and kissed her lightly on the neck. She giggled and turned to face him. He brought her right hand up to his lips and kissed the tips of her fingers. The finger she had just burned was still bright red.

"Better?" He asked.

"Much." She leaned forward and kissed his lips before turning back to the stove. Tim poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down at her small table. He watched her fix them both plates and wondered if he should ask what he really wanted to know. "You're staring." She accused. Tim blinked.

"Sorry, I just…" She sat down and pushed his plate to him.

"Just what?" She asked before stabbing at her food.

"The stupid person…" Her eyes came up, questioning him. "Is it your friend Seth?" She let out a defeated sigh. "You don't have to tell me, I just…"

"Yeah…" She took another bite and swallowed. "I've known him for a year and now all the sudden he's like… I dunno." She paused and rolled her eyes. "He suddenly became that annoying friend that invites himself to inspect your personal life. And he doesn't even know what he's talking about." Her irritation surprised Tim. "When you and I had dinner…" She stopped herself.

"What did he do?" Tim leaned forward and touched her arm.

"He compared you to my first boyfriend. Who he never even knew." Her irritation was back. "Seth is more Gavin's friend. They went through sniper school together." She paused again. "He accused me of letting you control me."

"Why would he think that?" Tim couldn't remember one time when he did anything controlling around Lexi.

"Because it's happened before… I dated this guy my second year of college, Derrick. Let's just say he turned out to be a major control freak." She sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. "He found me at the absolute lowest point of my life, and he took full advantage. Dad had just died and I went off the deep end a little. I stopped caring about everything. What was worse… I _let_ him take control of me. I just handed him everything he wanted. I stopped seeing my friends. I stopped everything. He had me so scared of being on my own… And I let him do it for a whole year." She finally made eye contact with Tim. "It took me a long time to get over that. Constantly asking permission for every little thing. Blaming myself for everything. Amelia and Mitch finally helped get me away from Derrick. I went back to school and got on with my life."

"Now all your friends think they have to circle you like orange caution cones." Tim did not see how this was fair.

"Something like that… They just don't want me to end up hurt again. Every guy I've dated since has gotten fed up with my issues and left. So, I just got to where I don't talk about things at all. Every time I would try to confide in a guy, he would think I expected him to fix it. Amelia and Mitch seem to be the only ones who know better."

Tim didn't know if he should mention the fact that Amelia was the one constantly giving him advice. That told him that at least Amelia thought enough of Lexi to let her make her own choices. Lexi spoke again, interrupting his thoughts. "But I made a promise that I wouldn't let myself get taken advantage of again. I guess I wanna prove to everyone I'm not as weak as they seem convinced I am."

"You're strong Lexi. You've proved that. Look at all you've done. And you don't have to be scared of being alone."

"I'm so sorry." She mumbled looking away.

"What on earth are you apologizing for now?"

"I really didn't mean to unload on you. Amelia is really the only one I spill to regularly." She sighed. "I don't know why but talking to you is… It's like I can't help myself. It's easy to tell you things."

"I'm actually glad for that." He told her sincerely. "And if I didn't want to know, I wouldn't ask."

"I just feel like I'm throwing too much at you, too fast."

"You're not." Her brushed a lock of hair out of her face. "Every new thing you tell me only makes me like you more. I've learned that you are a strong, independent person who always puts others before herself. You're sweet, honest, and beautiful. And you have friends who love you enough to threaten other people's lives." This made her smile. "What's not to like?" He smiled back, relieved that she was feeling better.

Later that night… Tim had been sitting in his car parked outside of _Crafted Confections _for nearly ten minutes when his passenger door opened. He jumped in his seat. Amelia sat there smiling at him like nothing was amiss.

"Um… Hi."

"Hello." Amelia chirped brightly. This seemed to be the tone she always used when she was plotting. Tim's guard shot up. "Whatcha doin sittin out here in this very nice car?"

"I'm just…"

"Having an inner debate?"

"Yeah."

"I get those a lot too." She paused and shifted in her seat as if to make herself comfortable. "You know that one friend that you confide everything in and who knows you so well it's almost scary?" Tim nodded. "Well, that's me and Lexi." Tim's eyebrows went up in question. "Yup, I know that girl's every deep, dark, and dirty secret. Not that she has an awful lot of them." Her voice lowered and became more serious. "So I hope you don't take this the wrong way… I get a good vibe from you, Tim. I don't think you would ever hurt her. But as her best friend I feel obligated to give you the standard warning. If you _do_ hurt her, there will be a line waiting behind me to get at you."

"Okay." Tim was just as serious as Amelia.

"So, she told you about Derrick."

"Yes."

"Good, then we have an understanding."

"I really hope so." And he really did. Amelia smiled again, less evil looking than usual. Which only terrified him more.

"If you want to talk to her, I can let you in the kitchen. She usually hates distractions, but she seems to make an exception for you." She got out of the car and after a second of hesitation, Tim followed.

In the kitchen Tim was surprised to hear electronic music instead of Coldplay. Amelia had let him into the shop, then she locked up and left. He quietly made his way into the kitchen. The steel table was full of desserts and yes, a monster of a wedding cake. Lexi was bent over a tray of cupcakes with her back to him. Just as he was about to reach out and tap her shoulder she turned.

"Ah!" She jumped and cried out in surprise causing him to jump too. "What the hell!" She clapped her hands to her chest.

"I'm sorry!" He held out his hands. "I just thought I'd surprise you. Amelia let me in." Yes, blaming Amelia was his best bet. He took a step back and let his arms drop. "I take it she forgot to tell me you hate surprises."

"Yeah, I prefer to be warned." She sighed and turned back to her cupcakes. "Sorr…" She sighed. Not constantly apologizing was taking some getting used to. "So did Amelia give you _some_ kind of warning? She's been threatening to have talk with you."

"She did say that if I ever hurt you there will be a line of people waiting to get at me."

"I doubt that." She looked up and smirked.

"No, that's really what she said." He smiled trying to lighten the mood.

"No, I mean I doubt any of them would stand in a line." She paused for a second then faced him smiling widely. "Hey!" Her over-happy tone scared him for a second. "You can help me!"

"Help you what?"

"Box all my little desserts. You can cut my time in half!"

"I'd be happy to." Finally the tension dissolved.

After getting everything set up for the wedding, Lexi invited him upstairs. Tim made himself comfortable on the couch while Lexi pulled out the red wine she still had.

"Is there anything else Amelia told you that I should know about?" She called from the kitchen.

"She said she gets a good vibe from me." Lexi laughed as she crossed into the living room with two glasses and the bottle of wine. She set it all on the coffee table and poured the wine.

"She usually does have a good judge in character."

"I believe that, seeing her choice of best friend."

"Oh my God, that is such a line!"

"Was it a good one?" Tim sipped at the wine.

"I've heard way worse."

"Say one."

"Well, once some guy told me that God put a burden on his heart to come over and talk to me. I then proceeded to ask him which boob he was talking to."

"Looking at your chest was a dead giveaway, huh."

"Oh, yeah. But don't act like you don't shift your eyes every few seconds." She paused to smirk at him. He put on an over innocent face. She set her glass down and moved towards him. His body tensed involuntarily and he quickly set his wine glass on the small table beside the couch. She twisted so her back was to him and laid down. He wrapped his arms around her. His lips were close to her right ear. He was about to kiss her but she spoke up again.

"You're working tomorrow right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Stacy said I could invite you to the wedding."

"Hmm, I would if I could."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Wedding's don't scare me." Tim smirked thinking of his earlier conversation with Tony.

"I told Stacy there had to be some unspoken rule not to take a new boyfriend to a wedding?" She laughed.

"Boyfriend?"

"Oh, I just meant…" She sat up and twisted to face him. "I mean if…" She was struggling.

"No, you had it right. Boyfriend." He reached up and pulled her back to him.

"You really need to stop saying all the right things."

"Why?"

"Because, it's suspicious."

"I guess I'll have to screw up really soon to throw you off my trail…" They laid there cuddling for a while. Tim gently rubbed the back of her head.

"You're gonna put me to sleep." Lexi said drowsily.

"I think I'm about to put myself to sleep too."

"Do you need to go home? I'll be getting up early. I have to help set up then get myself ready."

"I'm fine with staying the night if you are."

"Could we possibly move to the bed? Sleeping on the couch gave me a cramp last time."

Without a word Tim led her to the bedroom. She escaped to the bathroom to change clothes. Tim stripped down to his boxers and was under the covers by the time she came out. Even in shorts and a tee-shirt she looked good. She cuddled up next to him and kissed him before setting her head on his chest. Tim wrapped his arms around her and closed his eyes…

Sunday afternoon… Tim was at his desk typing furiously. If he got this done quickly he'd have time for a quick chat with Lexi. She had sent him a picture of her wearing her bridesmaid dress. It was a simple strapless, navy blue, A-line cut that ended just above her knees. Her hair had been piled on top of her head with ringlets falling around her face. She was smiling but her face looked like she just wanted the picture taken quickly. Her left arm was raised and she was holding a small bouquet of white calla lilies. Her text said she had caught the bouquet was now being teased about "being next."

Tim had laughed out loud at the text, just as Gibbs was passing his desk. Gibbs had paused and sent Tim a raised eyebrow. Ziva and Tony had also stopped working and eyed Tim from their desks. He dropped his phone and went back to work. Gibbs' eyebrow lowered back down and he kept walking.

That was two hours ago. Now, the team was busy with the last of their paperwork on the newest closed case. Tim finally finished his end of everything and grabbed his phone. Lexi had not sent him another text after the picture.

**Hey Lexi. Still at the reception?**

He sent the text and grinned, waiting for a reply. His eyes drifted to Tony's desk. Tony was watching him with an impatient expression. He knew Tony was miffed because Tim had refused to give him any details about Lexi. Tim looked back at his phone. Usually Lexi texted him right back. Even if it was just to say she was busy. He continued staring at his phone for almost three minutes before it vibrated in his hand.

**Who is this?**

That was odd. He knew she had his number in her phone.

**Tim. Who is this?**

**You need to back off her. She's meant for someone else.**

**Like who? Who is this.**

**Back off. I mean it.**

Tim was getting pissed. Who was messing with Lexi's phone? He got up from his desk and made his way to the elevator. The team all stopped what they were doing and watched him go.

"Back to work." Gibbs barked out.

Once he was alone in the evidence garage, Tim dialed Lexi's cell number. It rang twice, then he heard her voice.

"Hello?" She was breathless and laughing. Tim could hear loud music and talking in the back round.

"Hey. It's Tim."

"Hi! I thought you'd be working all day."

"I'm still at work. I'm just on a bit of a break."

"Those are always nice… You sound upset. Bad day?"

"No… Lexi, someone was texting me just a minute ago from your phone."

"Which one of you jerks had my phone?" He heard her yell. "Oh, I guess the magic fairy did it!" Now Tim could tell she was moving. The music became distant. "I'm sorry, Tim. I left my phone at the table while I was dancing. Whoever was texting you deleted everything."

"Who was at your table?" He tried not to sound angry. But she picked up on it.

"Gavin, Mitch, and Amelia just now. But we were just all dancing and sat down together. Anyone could have picked up my phone." She took a deep breath. "I'm so sorry. Are you mad?"

"Not at you." He made himself calm down. "Never at you."

"What did the text say?"

"I think I've just got some competition." Tim started pacing the garage.

"No, you don't. Trust me. Absolutely none." He could hear the smile in her voice.

"Can I see you later?" His voice was pleading.

"If you don't, I'll come looking for you." She laughed. He knew she was trying to make him feel better. It was working. "I may be held prisoner here for another couple of hours. But don't worry, I have an escape plan all worked out. It involves bungee cords and a toothpick." Finally, Tim laughed.

"I'm surprised you didn't say crossbow."

"Don't give me any ideas now…" They were both silent for a few seconds. "So did you want to come over to my place? Or I can meet you somewhere…"

"No, I'll come see you." Tim heard the elevator ding. "I gotta go. I'll see you tonight."

"I'll be waiting." Just as Tim hung up his phone, he felt a hand connect with the back of his head. He immediately knew it was Tony. Gibbs' smack wasn't quite that hard. He turned and before Tony could move, Tim returned the smack.

"Damn, McGoo, that hurt!" Tony rubbed the side of his head.

"Good!" Tim shoved his phone in his pocket. "What do you want?"

"Boss wants a campfire." They both moved towards the elevator. The second the doors closed Tony turned and smirked. "Gonna get your McGroove on tonight?"

"Tony, I will slap you again." As annoyed as he felt, he couldn't help picturing getting said McGroove on… When he stepped out of the elevator he was smiling. Not even the Gibbs Glare could shoot down his mood.

Late, very late, that night Tim was knocking at Lexi's door. He sighed when he checked the time. He should have called to make sure she wasn't too tired. The door opened and he was greeted by sleepy, dark blue eyes. Yes, he should have called.

"I'm so sorry, I know it's late." He shook his head. Without a word, she pulled him into the apartment. She still had on her bridesmaid dress but her hair had been let down. God she looked beautiful.

"You can wake me up." Tim's eyes went wide at the expression on her face. She kept pulling him until they were standing next to her bed. He wrapped himself around her tiny frame and kissed her deeply.

Lexi wasted no time getting his clothes off of him. The buttons on his shirt melted under her fingertips. The cool air hit his back but was soon replaced by her warm hands running up and down his skin. Then his pants were gone. His boxers went next. It occurred to him then, that she was still clothed. He tugged at the zipper on the back of her dress. It fell in a pool around her feet. She snapped her own bra off while he pulled at her panties.

They stood there kissing and rubbing their bodies together until the heat from the friction made the whole room sizzle. Lexi maneuvered him towards the bed. He fell back and scooted until his head hit the pillows. She slowly crawled over him until she was straddling his hips. When she leaned down to kiss him, Tim bent his head sideways and caught her neck in his mouth.

"Ah!" She cried out and shuddered. Tim continued to suckle her neck, not caring about the marks he knew he'd be leaving. Her moans were loud and it made Tim's already raging hard on twitch with anticipation.

Lexi shifted her body. Tim released her neck when he felt her hand on his dick. He looked into her eyes and saw a flash of hesitation.

"Only if you want to." He breathed out.

"I want you, Tim. I want you." She almost pleaded with him. He cupped her face with his hands and kissed her. Her hand was gone and she was easing her body into position. She was so wet that entering her was easy… At first. "Ah... Ah."

He knew she was struggling. He pushed her up and off of him. Gently laying her below him, he took command. His hands worked the soft, wet flesh between her legs. The cries of pleasure coming from her drove him wild. While his hands worked below, he kissed and sucked around her belly button. Her back arched and her hips bucked. She was ready…

He moved up and kissed her lips and neck while moving himself to re-enter her. As slowly as his body would let him, he pushed inside her. This time he managed to get all the way in without hurting her. Tim wanted to go slow. He wanted so badly to make this as good for her as possible. But the second she started squirming underneath him, he lost all reason.

His movements became quick and hard. She responded by wrapping her legs around him and begging for more. Tim grabbed the headboard with one hand and thrust inside her.

"Oh my God, Tim." Her cries became louder. "Yes, please!" He watched her eyes roll to the back of her head. Her hands clawed at his back. But the pain only excited him more. "Yes! Oh Tim!" Tim saw stars as she tightened around him. He could feel her orgasm rocking through her body. His own orgasm shot deep inside her. He thrust two more times before finally slumping over.

They both had to catch their breath before moving. Tim got up first and went to the bathroom. He came back with a towel and handed it to Lexi. The dazed expression on her face only satisfied him more. Her movements were jerky, but she managed to wipe herself down. Tossing the towel aside she reached out for Tim. He fell heavily back onto the bed and wrapped his arms around her. The last thing that registered in his head before sleep overtook him was the purring sound Lexi made as she drifted off.

It was Thursday and Lexi was taking a well deserved day off. All the wedding hooplah had subsided for now and she could just relax. She thought going to the mall with her friends would be a nice retreat. She had spent most of the morning cuddling with Tim before he finally had to go to work. It had been an awesome day so far… Until Seth had to ruin it.

"What do you even know about this guy? You call him your boyfriend and you don't even know what he does for a living." Seth's voice was like nails on a chalk board. He had been going on and on about Tim for nearly an hour. No one said anything as the group made their way through the food court. Gavin and Amelia kept glaring at Seth while Mitch just kept his head down. "And why the hell did you invite him to paintball? That's our thing!"

"We invite new people to paintball all the time." Mitch finally put in two cents. "Besides, since Jessa will be there again, now the teams are even." Mitch dared a glance at Lexi. She was staring straight ahead, trying not to spill anything on her food tray. He could see her hands shaking in anger. She quickly tossed the leftovers into the garbage and set her tray on the stack above the bin.

"I wanna go check out the new music store." Lexi said without looking at anyone. She turned and headed away from them.

"Nice going ass bag." Amelia chided Seth before following Lexi.

Once Amelia caught up with her, Lexi was ready to rant.

"Why does he insist on ruining the best thing to happen to me since… Damn him! Who the hell does he think he is?" She was whispering loudly. She and Amelia were the only ones in the small music store other than the clerk, but Lexi was never one to make a scene.

"Sweetie…" Amelia had been trying not to say this. But Lexi needed to hear it. "He's in love with you." Lexi faced her looking totally surprised. "He's been trying to get Gavin and me to hook you two up since you met. I wouldn't have any part in it. I don't like him. But Gavin lets him hang out with us cause their Marine buddies." Lexi blinked and clawed her hands into fists.

"Do you like Tim?" Lexi had a notion that Tim would never have lasted this long if Amelia didn't. But she wanted Amelia to say it. She needed someone to tell her she wasn't making a mistake by moving so quickly with Tim. Of course, Amelia was the only one who actually knew how quickly things were moving. It was no one else's damn business.

"Honestly, if I wasn't in love already, you'd have some competition." Lexi had never felt jealousy cross her like it did just then. The feeling of possessiveness told her, she wasn't in control of her emotions as well as she thought. Amelia would never betray her, neither would Tim. But the thought that she might have competition suddenly put her on guard. "Hey, come back to earth now." Amelia waved her hand in front of Lexi's face.

"It's bad enough I get off on tangents when I'm talking. Now I'm doing it when I'm thinking too." Amelia looked at Lexi and grinned. Both girls burst out laughing.

After leaving the mall, Lexi decided to head to the water front. She went there when she wanted to be alone and think. She found a bench and plated herself there. It wasn't long before the urge to reach out and text someone overpowered her.

**Hey Tim, busy?**

She sent the text and waited. He answered immediately.

**Not really. What's up?**

**Nothing. Taking a day off. Watching the birds.**

**Birds? Where are you?**

**Waterfront. Just relaxing.**

**Wish I was there with you.**

**Me too. Can't wait to see you Sunday.**

**Damn, I meant to tell you. I may not be there. Caught a case that may keep me away.**

**That's okay. **

**You're not mad?**

**No. I get it. Work is an okay excuse to be away. **

**Now you better stop saying all the right things. G2G. Boss calling.**

**Bye**

Well, it wasn't the _worst_ ending to a craptastic day.


	3. Chapter 3

This is so short but I needed to post it quick. I have no net at home. Was so excited by the reviews that I wanted to give you at least this! Hope you love it!

_Chapter Three_

Sunday morning. Tim groaned inwardly as the elevator doors opened. Stepping out he was greeted with ringing phones and the unmistakable sound of Tony getting pissed at his computer. He had done everything he could to get out of working today. He wanted to go to the paintball game so he could try to get on some kind of friendly terms with Lexi's friends. Seth, he could care less about. He was pretty sure Amelia already liked him, or at least tolerated him. But Gavin and Mitch barely knew him at all. Lexi's friends were the closest thing she had to family. If they ended up hating him, he's be in quite a predicament.

"McGeek!" Tony pulled Tim out of the clouds. Tim just stopped at Tony's desk and raised his eyebrows. "Can you fix this?" Tim rolled his eyes. He stowed his gear in his desk and went to save Tony's computer from a long and painful death.

It was barely three hours before Tim found himself itching to send Lexi a text. He hadn't see her since Friday morning. They had gone out to an early breakfast. Tim had lost track of time and was almost late. The last time he sent her a text was last night. She messaged him back that she was turning in early. It wasn't too soon to reach out again, was it?

**Hey Lexi**

Just as he started typing out his message Gibbs passed by.

"Gear up. Dead Petty Officer in Archland Park."

Wait… Wasn't Archland Park where Lexi was? Tim jumped up and quickly got his things together before following the team to the elevator.

Once they reached Archland Park, Tim kept his eyes open for any signs of Lexi. When he came up onto the crime scene the first face he saw was Amelia's. Her eyes connected with his and automatically widened. She slapped the shoulder of the person sitting next to her. His head came up and Tim saw that it was Gavin. The two of them were huddled together on a fallen log just outside the crime scene tape. Tim scanned the tree line and caught sight of a very distraught looking Mitch. Mitch hadn't seen Tim yet, but that was probably because his eyes were glued to his feet. Tim started to worry. Where the hell was Lexi. He nodded at Amelia and ducked under the tape. When his eyes finally rested on the body in front of him, Tim froze. His breathing hitched.

Lying on the ground, with her back to him, was the body of a young woman with chocolate brown hair. She wore camo pants and a camo jacket. A name was stitched onto the back of the coat.

**Alexia Jansen**

It couldn't be her. Tim knew it couldn't. They had been called out for a dead Petty Officer… Not his Lexi.

"Petty Officer Jessa Gowen." Gibbs' voice shook Tim out of his trance. "Shot through the chest. High powered rifle, probably."

"Poor dear," Ducky came up behind Tim. "Struck down in the prime of her life." Tim couldn't get Lexi out of his mind. He forced himself to focus. Aiming his camera, he took a shot of the mask on the dead woman's face before Ducky took it off. Now he knew it wasn't Lexi. Seeing the other woman's face sent a pain shooting through his chest. Someone had loved her. He shouldn't feel so relieved to see her face, instead of Lexi's. Tim quickly took another shot of her face without the mask.

Once the scene was processed, Tim joined Tony to question the witnesses. This was gonna be weird, he knew some of them. Again, he made himself only think about doing his job. Tony was questioning Amelia and Gavin. Ziva had gone over to Mitch, who by now had gone to stand away from the crime tape. Tim tried not to glare when his head swerved just in time to catch Seth watching him from farther off.

"So you barely knew the Petty Officer?" Tony was asking. He was trying to direct his questions more towards Gavin.

"She'd come out with us once before." Gavin seemed to be the only one who could get it together enough to form coherent sentences. "We only met her a couple of weeks ago. She came into our friend's bakery and heard us talking about our weekly paintball game. She was on shore leave and wanted to have some fun. It happens a lot. We invite new people all the time." By now Gavin was looking past Tony, at Tim. "He can vouch for that." Gavin nodded his head towards Tim. Tony turned and sent Tim a questioning look.

"He's right. I was invited out with them today." Tim looked back down at Amelia. She seemed to know what he wanted.

"She's not here." Amelia spoke in a monotone voice. "Her other decorator called in sick last minute and she left before the game even started."

"Who?" Tony turned back to Amelia.

"Lexi." Tim answered for her.

"Okay, who's Lexi?"

"Alexia Jansen, his girlfriend." This time Gavin answered. Tony shot Tim a surprised look.

"That's the name on the back of the jacket…" Tony said confused.

"Lexi let her borrow it. She didn't have any camo of her own that could get painted up." Amelia's voice was starting to sound normal again.

"Who knew she left? Can you confirm it?" Tony asked. Tim sent him a glare. Did he suspect Lexi?

"I watched her drive away." Amelia sounded just as defensive as Tim felt. "We were loading the paintball guns when she got the call. I was right next to her. She threw her stuff in her trunk and left."

"Did you tell anyone she left?" Tony asked, more cautiously this time.

"Gavin and I saw her leave. I told Mitch. We thought it would be best not to tell anyone else. Lexi's a great shot. If the other team thought we still had her, they'd spend their time trying to take her out first. We'd have an advantage."

"Who's on the other team?" Tim asked this time.

"Seth, Jessa… and Paul. We usually have more players, but lately people haven't been showing." Tim figured Paul for the blond guy standing farthest away.

"Did the jacket Lexi wore here have her name on it?" Tim needed to know that one for himself. A bad feeling was creeping up his body.

"Yeah. She got tired of people borrowing her stuff and not returning it." Amelia looked right at Tim. Realization crossed her features. She thought it too.

"McGee! DiNozzo!" Gibbs summoned them back to the crime scene. They rushed over and Ziva quickly joined them.

"Boss I found out who's clothes she's wearing." Tony spoke up. Gibbs lifted an eyebrow, waiting. "Alexia Jansen is…" Tony looked at Tim. So did Gibbs and Ziva.

"She's my girlfriend. She usually plays paintball with this group, but she went in to work today. She left before the game started." Tim's eyes slid to the dead woman, now being lifted onto a gurney. "She lent her jacket to the Petty Officer a couple of weeks ago." Tim wiped his face on his sleeve.

"Something else I should know, McGee?" Gibbs took a step towards him.

"Boss, when I first saw her… When I first saw the Petty Officer, the jacket, her hair color, height, and build… I thought for just a second that it was Lexi. She was supposed to be here."

"Who knew she wasn't?" Gibbs quirked his brow.

"Those two." Tony pointed them out. "Seth Price and Paul Watkins. Our dead Petty Officer was the third member of their team." Tony pointed the other direction. "Gavin and Amelia Shorne and Mitch Adams were on the other team. Only they knew she was gone."

"Well, that certainly narrows down our suspects." Ziva added. "We have not found the murder weapon yet." She spoke only to Gibbs. Gibbs turned back to McGee.

"So someone might have shot the wrong girl? Or maybe Gowen was the target?" Gibbs paused, still looking at McGee. "Tony, find me that weapon." Tony nodded. "Ziva, finish up with the witnesses. Process all of them." Gibbs turned to walk away. Tim stood there for a second, not sure what to do. "You comin, McGee?" Gibbs didn't bother stopping. Tim twitched, then turned to follow Gibbs.

This was the first time Tim actually dreaded walking into _Crafted Confections. _The girl behind the counter who Tim knew only as Lulu smiled when he walked in.

"Hey, Tim." She said brightly. There was a four person line waiting at the counter. Gibbs turned his head just enough to catch Tim blush.

"We need to see Lexi." Tim tried to stay all business. Lulu frowned slightly when she looked at Gibbs.

"Okay, go on back."

"Which way, _Tim_?" Gibbs gave Tim a look that made him feel about two inches tall.

"Through there." Tim pointed ahead. Once at the kitchen door, Tim could hear Lexi's music playing. Somehow it filled him with a sense of calm. She really was in there, not on some gurney… "Focus." He whispered to himself.

"Hmm?" Gibbs grunted before pushing the door open.

"Nothing boss." The kitchen was a lot messier than Tim had ever seen it. Only two other bakers were in there with Lexi. Tim pointed Lexi out to Gibbs. "Don't sneak up on her." He warned. Gibbs cocked an eyebrow. Lexi still had her back to them but the other two women had stopped what they were doing. Gibbs motioned one of them to shut off the music. A soon as it was silent, Lexi turned around.

"Hey!" She protested. But stopped short when she saw Gibbs and Tim. "Oh, hi." Her eyes went from the NCIS decal on their hats, to the guns and badges on their belts. "So, this is what you mean by 'kind of a cop.'" Gibbs glanced at Tim. He just answered with a shrug.

"We need to speak with you alone." Gibbs didn't sound quite his usual mean self, but he could have been a little more gentle.

"Okay." She immediately pulled off her apron and wiped her hands with a towel. "We can go outside." She led them out the double doors and into the alley that faced the street. Once she got the doors closed, Gibbs turned and led the questioning.

"You were supposed to be in Archland Park this morning." It wasn't necessarily a question, but Gibbs still demanded an answer.

"Yeah, one of my girls got sick. I have a strick 'no spreading your bad germs all over my kitchen' policy. So I came in to help. Did something happen at the park?"

"Petty Officer Jessa Gowen was murdered." Tim shifted uncomfortably. Gibbs could have broken it a little easier. Lexi's eyes went wide and her mouth fell open.

"Jessa… She's… Oh my God."

"How well did you know her?"

"I… We met a couple weeks ago. She came in to the bakery and wanted to know about our paintball game after she heard us talking about it. She wanted to…"

"You let her borrow your jacket?"

"Yeah. She didn't have an extra set. She didn't want to get paint on her's. I didn't have a problem with it so I let her."

"A jacket with your name on it?"

"Yeah…" Lexi finaly looked at Tim. "How was she?"

"She was shot in the chest." Gibbs brought her attention back to him. "From a long ways off from what we can tell."

"Who would? Everyone liked her. She was friendy with everyone."

"What about you?"

"Yeah, she was nice to me. I mean, she was always on the other team but…"

"No, I mean, can you think of anyone who might want to hurt _you_?" Tim's gut clenched and unclenched. This was what he feared. Gibbs had already figured it out.

"Me?" She asked incredulous. "Like who?"

"Anyone. Anyone with a grudge, or any kind of motive you can think of."

"I decorate cakes for a living! That's not exactly a cut-throat business!" Tim could see she was starting to panic.

"Okay then, would anyone have a personal grudge with you? Cause I got a dead Petty Officer who could easily fit your description, wearing a jacket with your name on it." Lexi grabbed her stomach like she was going to vomit.

"Boss…" Tim said, bearly audible. Gibbs took a second to look at McGee. He turned back to Lexi and frowned.

"We need you to come with us." Lexi nodded.

"Can… Can I get my purse? My inhaler, I may need it." Gibbs nodded.

"Go with her." He said to McGee before heading to the car.


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry this took so long to post. It is now finished, I left it at a point where it has an ending but could be picked up for a sequel. Hope you enjoy. I loved the reviews!

McGee sat at his desk banging on his keyboard like he was trying to punish it. Tony had just gotten off the phone with Petty Officer Gowen's CO. He was about to tell McGee that Gowen's file was being sent over, but seeing the look on his face stopped him. Tony was actually worried. He had never seen McGee like this. After watching him angrily punch away at the keyboard for two more minutes, Tony finally spoke up.

"McGee." The typing stopped abruptly. Tim's eyes flew up and glared. Tony cleared his throat. "Come on, let it out."

"I'm working Tony." He went back to typing.

Tony sighed and turned to his own computer. When Gibbs had come in with McGee and Alexia Jansen, Tony and Ziva were already at the bullpen. The woman they saw looked nothing like what Tony had expected. She was wearing simple kaki pants and a short sleeved dark blue blouse. Her hair was twisted up into a hair clip. But damn, she looked good! If they had met under normal circumstances, Tony would have given McGee hell and gone out of his way to embarrass him. But now…

Gibbs had taken Lexi straight to the conference room. He stopped McGee at the door, not letting him in. McGee got defensive and they argued for a minute. Tony was surprised that McGee didn't get a head slap. Tony couldn't hear exactly what they were saying but when Gibbs finally raised his voice, McGee gave in. He stalked back to the bullpen and kicked his desk chair.

"Are you alright, McGee?" Ziva asked him.

"He won't let me in there with her." Tim threw himself into his chair.

"McGee," Ziva walked over to his desk. "Gibbs knows you have a personal interest in this case. You need to stay objective."

"Having a personal interest never stopped Gibbs before." McGee spoke through clenched teeth.

"Speaking of the big bad, did he give any orders?" Tony tried to get McGee to focus on the case, not just on Lexi.

"He wants the standard work up on Gowen, phone records and back rounds on the paintball players, and…"

"And?" Tony asked.

"And a full back round on Alexia Jansen."

"I think one of us should do the back round on her." Ziva said cautiously.

"Fine, you do it." McGee still sounded bitter. "You've been wanting to anyways." He muttered quietly. Tony knew Ziva heard it, but she just went to her desk and got to work. Tony could understand how McGee felt. He didn't agree with him taking it out on Ziva, but he knew Ziva wouldn't take it personally. Which was the only thing keeping Tony from whacking McGee over the head with his own keyboard.

That was all a good two hours ago. Gibbs had come out of the conference room alone after thirty minutes. He passed by the bullpen and sent a look to McGee before heading to Abby's lab, and then probably on to autopsy. Tony knew he was headed down to see if Abby had gotten anything from the hunting rifle Ziva found at the scene. Since Gibbs left, McGee had either been bashing and glaring at his computer, or sending glances at the door to the conference room.

"McGee." Ziva's voice brought Tony's head up. McGee stopped typing and glared her way. "Did you know that four years ago, Alexia inherited quite a large sum of money from a dead grandfather?" McGee's eyebrows came together.

"She never mentioned it." McGee thought for a second. "That was right around the time she bought the bakery though."

"Almost three-hundred thousand dollars." Ziva said looking at her monitor. Tony let out a low whistle.

"That doesn't mean anything." McGee got defensive.

"No, that doesn't, but… She has a younger half-brother who fought it in court. He tried to stop her from getting the money. His name is Justin Barrett. He lives in Alexandria."

"And has almost three-hundred thousand reasons for motive." Tony said.

"But that was four years ago." Tim shook his head while he spoke.

"Yes, but because of drawing it out in court, she had not received the money until two months ago." McGee got up from his chair and moved behind Ziva to see her screen. Tony was close behind him. "She purchased the bakery with a loan. She had been paying it back over the last four years. After she received the money from the inheritance, she paid off the rest of the loan."

"So," Gibbs was suddenly in front of Ziva's desk. He held a white paper bag in one hand and an Orange Crush soda in the other. "Our suspect list just got bigger." McGee tried not to glare up at him. He kept his eyes glued to Ziva's screen. "Ziva, keep digging. Run down the name Derrick Ness." He handed Ziva a piece of paper. McGee clenched his fists. Gibbs had gotten her to talk about her ex. That had probably put her in a sour mood. "See if he has an alibi. DiNozzo, call the half brother and find out where he was this morning."

"On it boss." Tony flew back to his own desk.

"McGee." Tim finally made eye contact with Gibbs. "With me." Tim didn't move until he saw Gibbs was headed back into the conference room. Gibbs stopped at the door and turned to him. He held out the bag and soda. "Have lunch with your girlfriend, McGee. I'll be back after a while." Gibbs' face was completely unreadable. Tim took the bag and can.

When the door opened, Lexi expected to see Agent Gibbs with the lunch he had promised her. The interview with him had been short. Lexi suspected that he had gone easy on her on purpose. She knew how cops worked. They got you talking about yourself to open you up and make you feel comfortable. Then they started with the hard questions.

Seeing Tim looking at her with that strained expression brought her mind racing back to the here and now.

"Hi." She waved as she spoke.

"Was he nice to you?" Tim's question came out abruptly when he sat down.

"Um, yeah. Well, define nice." Tim's eyes widened. "I'm pretty sure he was at least his version of nice." She half-smiled and her eyes traveled to the bag on the table. "Is this mine?"

"Yeah." Tim blinked and opened the bag. He handed her a sandwich and pushed the soda towards her. He wanted to ask her a million questions, but nothing came out. After watching her eat for a minute, he finally opened his own sandwich.

"So, are you the good cop?" She asked without looking up.

"Nope, just your lunch date." Her eyes came up and she smiled.

"I figured he would either try to keep you away from me, or use you to pump me for information."

"That's not really how Gibbs works."

"You're right though. He does have the stare."

"I thought you said he was nice."

"He really just asked me basic back round questions. I was kinda surprised." She sighed and set her sandwich down. "Are you gonna tell me about the case?"

"I don't think I really can."

"I get it." She ate the rest of her food in silence. When she was done, she just sat there not looking up. "I told him about Derrick." She twisted her ring around her finger.

"I know." He tried to look at her face but she kept looking down. "That's good though. The more we know the faster we can get whoever did this."

"Do you have any leads?"

"I can't really say… Are you mad?" Her face shot up.

"About what?"

"Me not talking about the case."

"Tim, you're doing your job. Of course I'm not mad." Lexi propped her elbow on the table and laid her head in her hand. "I just…"

"What?" Tim leaned towards her.

"I can't stand the fact that someone died… It should have been me. She died because of." Tim took her hand.

"She died because someone murdered her." Lexi sniffed and faced him. He could see the tears threatening to fall. "You cannot blame yourself for this. You did not pull the trigger."

"I'd like to know who did." Tim and Lexi both jumped at the sound of Gibbs' voice.

"How does he do that? I didn't even hear him come in?" Lexi whispered to Tim.

"And you never will." Tim whispered back. They both looked back at Gibbs. Lexi touched Tim's hand under the table when Gibbs moved to sit across from her and to Tim's right. "Boss, you want me to leave?"

"No, you can stay." Gibbs slapped a folder onto the table and opened it. Tim squeezed Lexi's hand. Folder slapping was something Gibbs did when he wanted serious answers. "You recently came into quite an inheritance." He finally looked Lexi in the eye.

"Is that a question?" Her voice was suddenly hard. She had an unreadable expression on her face. Gibbs just kept looking at her. "Yes, my grandfather died."

"He left you everything." Lexi just nodded. "Were you close?"

"No. I barely knew him."

"Then why would he leave you his entire estate?"

"Guilt." Lexi's bitterness made both Tim and Gibbs look confused. Lexi took a second to glance at Tim.

"Would you feel more comfortable with him gone?" Gibbs asked nodding his head in Tim's direction. Tim's eyes begged her to let him stay. He needed to know what was going on.

"No, I just lose my temper when I talk about my mother's side of the family." Her eyes shot over to Tim and back to Gibbs.

"That's understandable. She left you." Tim tried to reassure her.

"How old were you?" Gibbs asked.

"Five." She saw Gibbs flinch. "The only memory I have of my grandfather is the day my mother left us. He helped her pack and move out. Basically, grandpa never approved of my father and finally convinced my mother to leave him."

"How did he manage that?" Gibbs frowned.

"He threatened to cut her off. He hated my dad because he was from a different class. Or maybe it was because my dad actually _had_ class." She scowled. "After mommy dear left Dad, she married someone gramps approved of. And my dad and I became just a bad memory."

"They never tried to contact you." Lexi glared up at Gibbs.

"Not until a lawyer called me to attend a will reading."

"But you took the inheritance."

"Do you always ask questions by making statements?" Tim shot Lexi a warning look. "Yes, I took it. And when they tried to take it away from me, I fought." Lexi's hand jerked away from Tim. "What does any of this have to do with Jessa Gowen's murder? Or do you just enjoy watching people lose it?" She was almost shouting.

"Do you think your mother or half-brother would try to hurt you?" Tim asked quickly. Gibbs seemed totally unphased by her outburst. But Tim wasn't taking chances. He needed to diffuse this.

"Even if they did, they wouldn't get the money. After my grandfather died, it opened my eyes." She seemed to be calming down. "I went to a lawyer and made out a will of my own."

"And?" Gibbs asked crossing his arms.

"If I die, Mitch gets the business. The rest gets divided between Amelia and Gavin, and my uncle Jimmy and his wife. And eventually if I get married, I'll change it to include my family."

"Uncle Jimmy?"

"He was my Dad's best friend. He's been family to me since I was born. He and his wife, Sue, helped me through a lot. He's a cop in Philadelphia. Sue is a teacher." She paused and leaned forward. "And before you ask another question or make a statement about either of them. They don't even know I made a will, no one does."

"And you honestly can't think of anyone who would want you dead?" Lexi shook her head, looking exhausted.

"No." Lexi's voice was level but Tim knew Gibbs was starting to hit the wrong buttons. "I live a very simple life. I work. I relax. I go fishing at my dad's old cabin when I wanna get away from the city. I don't party. I hate crowds. I don't make it a point to piss people off. I have a very small group of friends that I hang out with. I wouldn't suspect any of them of murder, not after what they've all helped me through."

"Your father's death…" Lexi stayed silent. "You were barely an adult. That must have been hard." Gibbs' voice had softened. "Made you vulnerable."

"My friends watched me fall apart and still stuck around to put me back together." She leaned forward and put her arms on the table. "They looked out for me even after I tried to drive them away. They cared about me, more than I did. Does that sound like anyone who would want to shoot me?"

"You'd be surprised." The door opened just as Gibbs spoke. Tony came in, but paused when he saw Gibbs squared off with Lexi. "Yeah, DiNozzo?" Gibbs prompted.

"Uh, got a hold of the half-brother…" Tony looked at Lexi and back at Gibbs. "Should we talk out here?" Tony pointed behind him. Gibbs didn't move. "Okay… The half-brother and mother were both in Greenwich all weekend. It checks out. Derrick Ness is…" Tony glanced back at Lexi. Her face went from angry to frightened. "He's been in jail for the past three months. Assault charge." Tony took another step into the room. "Ziva ran down phone records and uh…"

"Just speak Tony!" Gibbs was getting impatient.

"We have a theory." Tony moved his head, signaling Gibbs to follow him. Gibbs growled and got up. He grabbed the folder and headed out. Once at the door, he turned. "Come on, McGee." Tim looked at Lexi and got up.

"Just um, wait here." Tim said before following Gibbs.

Back in the bullpen Ziva had a photo of a hunting rifle up on the plasma.

"Boss," Tony was standing next to her. "Abby didn't get anything from the rifle. The serial number had been filed off. No prints, killer had to have been wearing gloves."

"You have a theory." Gibbs reminded Tony.

"Yes, boss." Tony grabbed the remote from Ziva. "This," he clicked the remote, "is Seth Price." McGee glared at the screen. "In the last year he has called or texted Alexia Jansen at least three to five times a week. That's more than any other person on her contact list." McGee's glare intensified. Tony glanced over his shoulder just in time to catch it. "In the last two weeks, that number has doubled. And the text messages have been… Well…" Tony clicked the remote again and the screen showed Lexi's text history. Tony began to read the texts out loud.

"**Lex, I need to know where you are. Why aren't you answering your phone. Don't ignore me."**

"**Lex, I know you're with him. Does he not let you answer your phone? What is it with you and control freaks?"**

"**If he hurts you, I'll kill him. I'm here if you need me."**

"**He's not good enough for you. You deserve better. Please call me."**

Tony stopped reading and turned to Gibbs.

"And it gets weirder from there. Boss, this guy sounds a little too stalkerish." That was all the confirmation Tim needed to know that Seth had been the one texting him from Lexi's phone at the reception.

"He is." Tim said bitterly. "He's been trying to get her to break it off with me."

"He also happens to be a Marine sniper." Ziva added.

"Bring him in." Gibbs turned back to Tim. "Take her home. Stay with her." Tim didn't hesitate this time. He went to his desk and grabbed his things. "McGee!" Tim turned back around. "This is a protection detail. Not a night off."

"Got it boss." He practically ran to the conference room.

By the time Tim pulled into the parking lot of _Crafted Confections _Lexi had fallen asleep beside him. She hadn't said a word the entire drive over. He turned off the engine and shifted in his seat to face her. He reached out and touched her cheek. Her head came up slowly.

"We're here." He spoke softly. Without saying a word she got out of the car. Once they reached her door, she unlocked it. She was about to open the door but Tim stopped her. "Let me check first." Lexi's eyes widened when he pulled out his gun. "Just wait a minute." Tim walked through the apartment and checked every nook and cranny where someone could hide. After not finding anyone, he headed back to the front door. He made it to the middle of the living room when he heard-

"Lexi!"

Tim rushed out of the apartment and found Amelia bear-hugging a tired looking Lexi. Amelia quickly let go of Lexi when she looked up and saw Tim pointing a gun in her face. Tim put his gun away and sighed. Amelia turned back to Lexi.

"What is going on? I've been so worried! Gavin and I waited for you at Mitch's. Did you know we had to give our camos and gear to some lab at NCIS? And they are looking for Seth to question him! What is that?" Amelia paused her super fast interrogation to hug Lexi again. "Oh, I was so worried!" Mitch's door opened and Gavin and Mitch both came into view. Amelia turned to Tim and glared. "What the hell is going on?" She demanded.

"I can't really talk about an open case." Thank God he could hide behind protocol. Amelia really did frighten him.

"Excuse me." She took a step towards him. "Excuse me!" Gavin slipped behind Amelia. Tim couldn't tell if he was going to back her up, or try to hold her back. "You cart my best friend off after a murder and you won't tell me why? Is she in danger?"

"I can't tell you about the case. I'm only here to watch out for Lexi." He was afraid to say 'protect.' That word sent all the wrong signals sometimes.

"So, you're working right now! She's just a case to you now! Well, she's a person to me!" By now Amelia was hysterical with anger. Tim wanted to yell at her. How dare she accuse him of treating Lexi like another case. The fact that Lexi happened to be standing there (or about to fall over from the looks of it), kept Tim from telling Amelia to shove it.

"Stop it." Lexi speaking brought everything to a halt. "Just… Stop." She swayed and Tim reached out to steady her. "I just wanna lay down." She pushed past everyone and went into her apartment.

"Do you see what you did?" Amelia hissed at Tim. His eyes narrowed. What _**he**_ did? _**He **_wasn't the one yelling. Amelia followed Lexi into the apartment. Tim knew he should stop her but once look at Gavin told him that even trying would be pointless.

"We'll just be in here." Gavin said pointing at Mitch's door. Tim nodded and stepped in Lexi's door.

Tim shut and bolted the door. He didn't bother going into Lexi's room. He really wasn't up for another encounter with Mama Bear. Tim just plopped down on Lexi's couch. The couch faced the door to the bedroom. He could hear Amelia but her voice was muffled. The door was open slightly and he saw Lexi cross into the bathroom. A minute later she came out and glanced up long enough to see Tim on the couch. The light in her room went off and Amelia came out and shut the door. Tim sighed when she came to sit next to him.

"She wants me to leave." Amelia sounded both surprised and sad. "What is going on? She hasn't shut me out like this since…"

"Since Derrick?" Tim let his head fall onto the back of the couch.

"Yeah."

"I did not tell her to ask you to leave." She was _not_ going to accuse him of being controlling. He was getting really sick of that.

"I know." Amelia paused long enough to make Tim finally turn his face to look at her. "She's in some kind of danger isn't she." Tim nodded. "That bullet… It was meant for her." Tim nodded again. "She does this when she feels threatened. She pushes people away. It's like she thinks her bad luck is contagious. Who would even want to hurt her?"

"Tell me about Seth Price." Tim brought his head up.

"Are you asking me for the case or because you want to protect her?"

"Both. And solving this case _will_ protect her."

"Seth fell in love with Lexi the day they met. At least he said he did. Lexi never caught on to it. She had no idea until a few days ago. I had to flat out tell her. Seth had been trying to get me and Gavin to help him get Lexi."

"And?"

"We made it clear we weren't gonna play matchmaker. Lexi needs to make her own decisions. And I knew she could never love Seth. He's too cold."

"And I'm not? You didn't have a problem giving _me_ advice."

"I see the way she looks at you."

"How?"

"Like she's looking at everything she's ever wanted. She told me you made her forget what it was like to be afraid. That's when I knew you were good for her."

"I'm not so sure anymore…" Amelia sat up straight.

"What?" Her voice came out hard.

"I don't think I'm what she needs. I just feel like she can do better."

"Better than what? Better than someone who makes her feel as happy as she was before her dad died? I knew Lexi when her dad was alive. She was probably the happiest person I'd ever met. She was bright and funny and loved everyone. She looked at the world and saw how good it was. Then she got that one damn phone call. That "we regret to inform you" bullshit… I've never seen anyone break into a million pieces like that." Amelia stopped and sighed. "You should see how she glows when you walk into the room. You did that, Tim. You did what no one else could. So don't you dare tell me she can do better."

"Wow, I really didn't expect you to champion me after the yell fest at the door." Tim smirked.

"Well sometimes my over-protective nature gets the best of me."

"Yeah." Tim nodded. "But I know how you feel. I nearly punched my boss earlier. And if you've met my boss you'd know how crazy someone would have to be to even _think_ of doing that."

"Okay. Well, before this gets so awkward, I actually blurt out the word awkward, I'm gonna go." Tim got up and locked the door after Amelia left. He sat back down on the couch and closed his eyes.

"What a day." He said out loud.

"You don't really believe that do you?" McGee's eyes popped open. Lexi was standing in her room with the door open. She had changed into a Waverly College t-shirt and a pair of yoga shorts.

"Believe what?" Tim asked. Lexi crossed into the living room and sat in her desk chair, facing Tim.

"That you're not good for me."

"It just feels like, since I came into your life… Maybe it's _my_ bad luck that's contagious."

"What happened to "this isn't your fault, you didn't pull the trigger?" Or does that only apply when your trying to make someone feel better?" She sounded angry. Tim leaned forward and put his hands on his knees.

"Do you think I didn't mean that?"

"I dunno, did you?" Her sarcasm was like a slap in the face.

"Where is this coming from? Why are so pissed at me all of the sudden?"

"I'm not pissed at you genius!" She stood up and pushed the chair back. "I'm scared okay! I'm scared and embarrassed! And I don't like it!" Tim stood up and took a step towards her. She moved back towards the kitchen.

"Lexi…" Tim tried to calm her down. "You have nothing to be-"

"Don't. Just, don't give me that 'no one's gonna hurt you' speech. It will not help."

"I was going to say, you have nothing to be embarrassed about. Why would you even think that you did? Because now I know your mother's family are all jerks? I kinda figured that already. And I honestly believe you have every right to hate them."

"I've tried so hard to keep my private life, private. And now… Now the people you work with. The people you have to see every day… They know all about your sad, pitiful little girlfriend." Lexi hugged herself. "There's an innocent woman dead, and all I can think about is whether or not you'll ever want to look at me when this is over. I embarrassed you in front of everyone. I feel like some pathetic baby."

"I don't care if I'm working." Tim's voice was low and serious. Lexi's eyebrows came together in confusion. "And if Gibbs finds out he can fire me."

Tim closed the distance between them and pried Lexi's arms apart. Wrapping his hands around the back of her neck he pushed his lips onto hers. Lexi gasped, completely caught off guard. As soon as her lips parted, Tim slipped his tongue in her mouth. He kissed her hard, trying to put all his conviction into it. Words were useless right now. He needed to _show_ her. She just stood there and let him kiss her. He moved his hands to cup her cheeks. When she still didn't return the kiss, he finally let go. She looked up at him completely stunned. His hands fell from her face to her shoulders.

"If that doesn't tell you how I really feel, I can do it again." He said touching his forehead to hers. She blinked like she was coming out of a trance.

"Do it again."

His lips were back on hers in a second. This time she returned the kiss. He felt her pushing him back towards the couch. He broke off the kiss abruptly.

"No," his voice whispered in her ear. "The bed." She promptly turned and pulled him to her room.

Tim groaned when he heard his phone ring. He distangled himself from the bed sheets and dug his phone out of his pants. Before he flipped the phone open he looked at the clock beside the bed. It was 10:23p.m.

"McGee." He said into the phone.

"Hey," Tony's voice was all business. "We had to release Seth Price."

"What?" Tim exclaimed. Lexi stirred and mumbled. Tim went out into the living room.

"We had nothing on him. But he gave me and Gibbs a nice creepy feeling. I've been ordered to take you and Alexia to a safe house."

"So, I need to bring her into NCIS?"

"Yep, right now."

"Got it." Tim ended the call. When he got back into the bedroom, Lexi was awake and sitting up in the bed.

"Are we leaving?" She asked drowsily.

"Yeah. You might want to pack a bag." Lexi sighed and pushed the covers off of her legs.

In less than ten minutes they were ready to leave. Tim grabbed Lexi's bag while she sent a quick text to Amelia. They quickly made their way outside. Tim popped the trunk and had just set Lexi's bag down when he felt a sharp pain on the back of his head. Lexi screamed. Then nothing.

Tim blinked several times. Son of a bitch, his head hurt! He could feel something sticky coating the right side of his face. He tried to move his hand to wipe the stickyness away. But he couldn't! He took stock of his surroundings. He was in Lexi's kitchen, sitting in one of the wooden chairs facing her table. His hands were bound behind him by what he was pretty sure was duct tape. As his eyes adjusted to the brightness he quickly zeroed in on another figure. Lexi was in a chair, bound the same way he was. Her hair was covering her face. She was slumped over, still unconscious.

"Lexi?" He called out softly. "Lexi can you hear me?" She stirred and moaned.

"Don't think she can, Special Agent." Tim whipped his head around and saw Seth Price come out of Lexi's bedroom. "I had to knock her out, wouldn't stop screaming… And I wanted the chance to enjoy this."

"Enjoy what?" Tim growled.

"You took her from me. I'm going to make you watch her die. Then I'm going to kill you, then myself." Seth's calm voice scared the hell out of Tim. Seth pulled something from underneath his shirt.

'Great.' Tim thought. 'He's going to kill Lexi and me with my own gun.'

"If you love her, why do you want her dead? Just kill me." Tim pleaded.

"No… That wouldn't be right."

"Why the hell not? You'd be rid of the competition!" By now Lexi was lifting her head. "Just let her go! Kill me and let her go." Lexi blinked several times and stared at Tim.

"It's not about competition." Seth walked over to Lexi and ran a hand through her hair. She jerked her head away and glared at him. "It's about a true love story." Seth moved to stand behind Lexi. "She loves Shakespeare. And we're gonna be Romeo and Juliet."

"You're insane." Lexi breathed out. "You're not in love, you're just freaking nuts." Seth grabbed a handful of Lexi's hair and pulled. She cried out in pain as her head was jerked back.

"Stop it!" Tim yelled. Seth's hand shot up and suddenly the gun was pressed against Lexi's temple.

"You both need to stay quiet. We don't want to wake the neighbors." He jerked Lexi's hair again. This time she bit down hard to keep from making noise. Seth leaned forward and kissed her cheek before letting go of her hair. "Now," he moved to stand beside Lexi. "It's confession time." He pointed the gun at Tim. "Do you love him?" Lexi opened her mouth to respond but nothing came out. Her eyes began to tear up. She closed her mouth and looked at Tim. "Do you?" Lexi's lips tembled.

"I don't know…" Her eyes fell away from Tim. Seth stepped towards Tim.

"Do you love her?" Tim looked Lexi square in the eyes.

"Yes. I love her. And I will fight for her." Tim saw Lexi's eyes go wide. "What would a love story be without a fight for your true love? There was a lot of that going on in Romeo and Juliet." He looked at Seth. "Let's have a go." Seth seemed to consider this for a second.

A knock at the door made everyone jump. Seth whipped around and shoved the gun in Lexi's face.

"If you make one sound, I will shoot whoever that is!" He hissed at her.

"My car is downstairs." Tim whispered. "They know we are in here." Seth glared at Tim. Another knock.

"Lexi?" Lexi's jaw dropped at the sound of Amelia's voice.

"Please, I'll get her to leave." Lexi pleaded quietly. "I promise, just let me answer her. Then you can have all night…" Seth made up his mind and quickly got a knife to cut the tape on Lexi's wrists. He stood her up and shoved her to the door.

"If you do anything I don't like, I'll shoot her. Then I'll go next door…" He reached up and hooked the door chain so Lexi couldn't open it all the way. Lexi cracked the door.

"Hey," Lexi's voice was level. "Sorry, we were sleeping. What's up?"

"I thought you were leaving?" Amelia sounded worried.

"We were but they called us back and said they had a suspect in custody. Tim's boss said I'd be okay here if he stayed with me. And I honestly didn't want to go to some strange house in the middle of the night."

"That's understandable." Amelia's voice was calm now. "So, everything okay?"

"Yeah, it's all peaches and cream. Can I go back to bed now?" Lexi managed a laugh.

"Yeah. Night night, wonder girl." Lexi closed the door.

"That was very good dearest." Seth led Lexi back to the chair. "Now you just sit and continue to be a good girl." He moved to stand behind Tim. As Seth crossed, Tim saw Lexi wink. Tim perked up slightly, letting her know he caught it. Seth paced back and forth behind Tim. Three minutes passed. Tim knew because he was facing Lexi's wall clock. He kept glancing at her but her eyes were on Seth. He could actually see a plan forming in her mind.

"It's not my favorite love story." Lexi suddenly said. Seth faced her, still behind Tim. "Romeo and Juliet… I never liked that one. I thought it was a waste, them dying in the end."

"What story was your favorite?" Seth asked. His tone had changed slightly.

"I always liked Much Ado About Nothing. It has my favorite quote in it."

"Which is?"

"Silence is the most perfect herald of love. I always liked to think that it meant, shut up and kiss me."

"So you like action, not just words?"

"I always have." She sat up straight in her chair. "Your actions tonight… If I had known… Why didn't you let me know sooner?"

"I tried!" Seth moved to stand in front of Lexi. "I did, I tried! I tried everything to get you to notice me. But you never did. And then _he_ came along."

"Why didn't you just try kissing me?" She said quickly. She wanted his focus on her, not Tim.

"What?" Seth shook his head.

"Try kissing me. Just shut up and kiss me." She leaned forward. "Kiss me." Seth knelt down on one knee and looked her in the eyes.

"You want me to…?"

"Kiss me. Actions, not words." She smiled and leaned further. One hand touched his cheek. He closed his eyes and moved in.

Lexi gave a cry of anger and lauched herself at his crouched form. Tim shouted her name but was helpless to do anything. Seth yelled out in pain when Lexi's elbow connected hard with his face. His gun hand flew up and Lexi grabbed it with both hands. Tim tried scooting the chair towards them, thinking he could kick Seth. Tim heard a shot go off.

"No!" He screamed. Suddenly, Lexi and Seth were standing. Tim's heart sank when he saw that Seth still had the gun.

"That was very stupid!" Seth yelled. He grabbed Lexi's shirt and pulled her towards him. Putting the gun to her temple, he forced her to face Tim. "Ready to watch her die?"

At that second the front door was kicked in and three people were yelling and pointing guns. Tim had never been so releived to see his team!

"Put it down!" Gibbs yelled.

"You put yours down!" Seth yelled right back. He ducked down, behind Lexi. "I'll kill her!"

"You won't have the chance." Tony spat out.

"Ziva?" Gibbs asked, not taking his eyes off Seth. Ziva had inched around and Tim could see she was aiming her shot.

"Got it." She replied calmly.

Seth ducked further down and shoved the gun in Lexi's back. What had her dad told her to do a million times if someone had a weapon on her back. Lexi's eyes connected with Gibbs'. Her eyes went wide for a second. Then she used all of her weight to drop forward onto her stomach. Seth was still gripping her shirt and fell forward with her. The gun went off again as he landed beside her. Pain. Lexi heard three more shots and Tim yelling her name. Then the world slipped away.

Lexi's eyes opened slowly. The first thing she saw was a bright light.

"Great, I'm dead." She muttered.

"Not quite." A voice beside her made her jump. She turned to see one of Tim's team members sitting beside her.

"Good thing, cause if this is supposed to be heaven, I got jipped. I figured there would at least be a giant chocolate fountain." Her voice came out scratchy but she was smiling. The agent beside her smiled back.

"I could rustle you up some chocoalte pudding." He offered.

"You must be Tony." His eyes narrowed slightly.

"Why must I be Tony?"

"Cause you're being nice to me. Well, that, and I've already met Gibbs. And I know Ziva's the girl."

"He does talk about us. I knew it." He snapped his fingers. "Was it all bad?"

"I'll never tell." She tried to sit up. "Ah!" Pain shot through her left side.

"Easy now." Tony stood up. "You've been shot. The bullet hit you just below your collar bone." Lexi's eyes flew up at him.

"What about Tim?" She asked desperately.

"He's fine. Just a concusion and a few staples in his head."

"They stapled his head! Oh my God! Can I see him?"

"Not yet." Tony tried to calm her down.

"Why the hell not?" She yelled trying to roll out of the bed.

"Hey!" Tony turned at the female voice behind him. "What the hell did you do to my best friend?" Lexi calmed down when she saw Amelia.

"Ma'am I don't think you can come in here. It really should be family only."

"In that case, I'm coming in." Tony turned back to Lexi.

"She is family. And if you want her gone, good luck." Tony shrugged and pulled his chair into the corner of the room. He made sure he was facing the door and sat down.

"You will be happy to know, I just got back from checking your man. He is on his way here. They had to do X-Rays and stuff. He's gonna be fine"

"How long have I been out?" Lexi wanted to scratch her head but couldn't get her arms to work properly.

"Not long." Amelia laughed when Lexi resorted to rubbing her head into her pillow. "What are you doing?"

"Head… Itchy." Amelia leaned over and ran both her hands through Lexi's hair, letting her nails gently massage Lexi's scalp. "Ahhh. Thank you."

"You are welcome, wonder girl." Amelia pulled her hands back.

"So you caught it?"

"Yuppers, sure did."

"Caught what?" Again, everyone turned towards the door. Tim was standing there with a bandage taped to the side of his head. Ziva and Gibbs were right behind him. Tim shuffled into the room. Tony quickly got up and moved his chair next to the bed. He helped Tim sit down. "What did she catch?" Tim asked as he reached out to hold Lexi's hand.

"Peaches and cream." Lexi said, only looking at Tim.

"I do not understand…" Ziva spoke quietly.

"Peaches and cream was the code I used when I was with Derrick. It's what I said when I needed to tell my friends that I needed help."

"So when I came to the door and asked if everything was okay… She said the code, and I called you guys." Amelia added.

"And when she called me wonder girl, I knew she remembered the code. Wonder girl was what she called me when I actually stood up for myself."

"Tim told us all how you stalled for time. Way to go with the love story crap." Amelia stepped forward and gently head-slapped Lexi. "But, bad girl, for jumping on him instead of waiting for the cavalry." Lexi cringed away from Amelia and looked up at Gibbs.

"Is he dead?" She asked. Gibbs only nodded. Lexi squeezed her eyes shut.

"Come on team, let's let these two alone for a while." Gibbs surprised everyone. Tony and Ziva both sent smiles before they exited. "You too Mrs. Shorne!"

"Who does he think he is?" Amelia asked jerking a thumb in Gibbs' direction.

"Trust me." Lexi said grinning. "Just follow the man." Amelia quirked an eyebrow but did as she was told.

When they were finally alone Lexi looked back at Tim. They stared at each other for several minutes, both of them trying to think of what to say. Finally Tim spoke first.

"I was being serious you know." Lexi's face questioned him. "When I said I love you, and I'd fight for you."

"I thought you were just trying to provoke him…" She looked away.

"Well, I was. But I was also being honest."

"I lied."

"When?"

"When he asked if I love you. I said I didn't know. I lied." His grip on her hand tightened. "I do know. I have for a while. It's why I've been so scared." Her voice faltered. He waited for her to go on. Her eyes came back up. "I love you, Tim." They both smiled.

"Is that silence, herald, thing, really your favorite quote?"

"Yeah. Well, that one and, "first, let's kill all the lawyers."

"You and my boss would get along so well." He shook his head and laughed.

"Tim."

"Yeah?"

"Shut up and kiss me." And he did.


End file.
